Banning extra classes but expanding 'gifted' secondary schools?

OPEN UNIVERSITY "GIFTY" SECONDARY SCHOOL

While Circular 29 on the management of extra teaching and learning clearly states that extra teaching is not allowed at the primary level, the education sector does not have a consistent solution to implement this regulation. The permission to open "specialized" schools at the secondary level, but under a different name, is increasingly common in the public school system.

Students taking the entrance exam for grade 6 at Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary and High School (Hanoi National University of Education) in 2024

PHOTO: THANH HUNG

Recently, the People's Committee of Cau Giay District has just decided to allow the establishment of the Gifted Secondary School of the University of Education under the Hanoi University of Education. This information immediately attracted the attention of parents. In Hanoi's parent groups, questions about how the school recruits students, whether the exam is difficult, what "talents" are taught, etc.

Besides, many people also wonder why there are regulations prohibiting specialized schools and selective classes at the junior high school level but allowing the opening of "gifted" schools. Responding to the press, the leader of Hanoi National University of Education emphasized that this is a junior high school pedagogical practice facility within the practice school system of Hanoi National University of Education. "This is not a specialized school or a specialized high school, but aims to nurture and promote talents, so the school's name is a gifted school," he said.

The school representative also said that in the first year, only 3 classes with about 100 students will be recruited, each class will have about 35 students, and it is expected that 5 classes will be recruited next year if the teaching staff and facilities meet the requirements. It is worth mentioning that at Hanoi National University of Education, in addition to the Pedagogical High School, there is also Nguyen Tat Thanh Inter-level School to serve the purpose of pedagogical practice and every year the enrollment is very stressful, especially for grades 6 and 10. Allowing the establishment of another gifted secondary school when the facilities and teaching staff have not been properly invested from the beginning is very difficult to explain and convince.

What is more worrying is that the stressful enrollment as happened at Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary and High School, Foreign Language Secondary School (under the University of Foreign Languages, Hanoi National University) will make the race to prepare for the exam from primary school endless.

Entering grade 6 of "gifted" middle schools is a fierce "battle"

Photo: Thanh Hung

S AT GD-DT WANTS TO ADD SECONDARY SCHOOLS UNDER SPECIALIZED SCHOOLS

For many years now, a primary school graduate in Hanoi has had to compete with at least 20 other students to get a place at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, even though the prerequisite is that they must have an "excellent" 5-year primary school transcript and a "full 10" periodic test score... Therefore, students taking the entrance exam to grade 6 shoulder a heavy responsibility. That is the expectation and investment of parents for many months in both material and effort, time for their children to take extra classes at a famous "training center"... It can be affirmed that very few students who only study the primary school program according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training are confident enough to enter this exam.

In the 2024 enrollment season, implementing Circular 05 of the Ministry of Education and Training on the management of specialized high schools, Hanoi had to accept to stop enrolling 6th grade students of Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted. The decision to stop close to the enrollment time has caused many reactions from parents. Most of the opinions regret that their children have spent many years of extra classes and exam preparation at the elementary level to prepare for the 6th grade entrance exam of this school.

However, this year, many sources said that the enrollment of 6th grade students in "Ams school" may return under the name of a high-quality secondary school. Not stopping there, at the ceremony announcing the decision of Chu Van An High School for the Gifted, the Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training also suggested that this school should study to establish an affiliated secondary school and said that for more than 20 years, Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted has had a secondary school system. Through the summary, the department assessed that this model has operated well, creating a source of excellent students from lower levels for specialized schools. Students who have grown up in this environment have many achievements at home and abroad. Therefore, the establishment of a secondary school within a specialized school is the desire of the Hanoi education sector. "Of course, this must follow the regulations and guidelines of the revised Capital Law and the regulations on the organization of specialized schools of the Ministry," said Director of the Department of Education and Training Tran The Cuong.

Hanoi also has a system of high-quality public secondary schools, and every year the Department of Education and Training has to manage the recruitment of 6th grade students for these schools with increasing levels of stress and even "puzzles". The reason is that the competition to get into these schools is becoming more and more fierce.

Not only Hanoi, many provinces in the north are also seeing the development of "special" middle schools, with entrance exams for grade 6 instead of admissions like other public schools.

For many years, Bac Ninh has had 8 "key" secondary schools with a strict 2-step admission plan. Step 1 is preliminary selection: admission based on the assessment records of 5th grade students completing the primary school program according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training. Step 2 is selection: Students take a capacity assessment test according to the general questions of the Department of Education and Training. The test includes both essay and multiple choice in 3 subjects: math, Vietnamese and English.

In Bac Giang, except for Bac Giang city, almost every district has a high-quality secondary school or a secondary school with high-quality classes with similar entrance examination methods.

EXTRA TUTORING IS HARD TO HAVE AN END

An elementary school teacher commented when reading the entrance exam for grade 6 of a special school in Hanoi: The requirements of the elementary education program do not have "such things" and the teachers themselves cannot get high scores. There are many tricks and riddles in the so-called "competency assessment" tests.

According to this teacher, the ability here is essentially the ability to practice many times the type of math problems, Vietnamese problems to solve the fastest in a limited time with dozens of multiple choice questions. That is not the ability that the new general education program aims for. This is also the issue that mathematicians have mentioned many times when giving opinions on exams that include this subject.

If we ban extra classes in primary schools but still allow them to exist and have entrance exams for grade 6 in special schools, then extra classes and extra learning will still be a story without end.

Photo: Thanh Hung

Therefore, many opinions say that no matter how the regulations change, the important thing is that it must be consistent with the examination policy. If the policy is both building and opposing, on the one hand banning extra teaching in primary schools but on the other hand still allowing it to exist and holding entrance exams for grade 6 in special schools, then the story of extra teaching, extra learning and reducing pressure on students will still be a never-ending story.

When giving comments on amending the Capital Law at the end of 2024 session, National Assembly delegate Nguyen Thi Tuyet Nga (Quang Binh delegation, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture and Education, Office of the National Assembly), said: "Many educational institutions in Hanoi have been overloaded in recent years. There are schools with more than 60 students per class, meaning that Hanoi still does not have enough public schools to implement mass education. Special policies when investing in expansion, building many high-quality schools, high tuition fees in implementation, if not carefully implemented, can lead to educational stratification, high-quality schools are only for children of well-off families, leading to inequality and creating pressure for learners and people. Meanwhile, primary and secondary education is universal education...".

When you don't put too much pressure on yourself, you can go a long way with small steps.

Talking about reducing the pressure of studying and taking exams for primary school students, Professor Le Anh Vinh, Director of the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences, said that pressure comes from expectations, and expectations come from parents' goals. For example, we expect "my child must be the best student in class, my child must get into school A, my child must get into school B, my child must get this award, that award...".

However, Professor Le Anh Vinh pointed out that if we expect a child to only be good at a certain subject, win a certain award or get into this or that school, that goal is too small... And when we do not put too much pressure on each small step, we can go the long way.