Is stopping enrollment in grade 6 of specialized high schools shocking?

However, the way this long-standing case is handled outside of regulations seems to be shocking to many parents.

Parents shocked, worried

A parent in Thanh Xuan Trung Ward (Thanh Xuan District) shared: When reading the information that the enrollment of 6th graders to Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted (which students and parents still call "Ams School" - PV ) may have to stop from this year, my whole family and I could only say one word: "so shocked".

To enter grade 6 at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, students must pass a rigorous entrance exam.

She said that her child is in the second semester of grade 5 this year and has only one wish: to enter grade 6 at Ams School. Because of this special wish, since grade 1, she has not had a full weekend or summer vacation because of the extra classes and review schedule to achieve this wish. Since grade 3, her child's study schedule has become even more dense. Not only does she have a hard time, but the whole family has to follow the same routine.

If you study the exam plan of Ams School in recent years, you can see that getting into grade 6 of the school is indeed a very tough "battle" in which participants must clearly define their goals, have a strategy and implement it methodically from the time their child enters grade 1.

For a long time, the admission to grade 6 of this school has been applied according to a special mechanism, although it is not a specialized system because according to the Education Law, there are no specialized schools or selective classes from junior high school and below. However, the junior high school block is part of the Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, which has existed for decades, so parents also assume that it is a "specialized school", and every year the admission process is extremely stressful. To continue to the entrance exam round, students must pass the extremely strict high school transcript review round. For example, in 2023, according to the admission guidelines, students must achieve 167 points for 17 final exams of the school year, which means that only a maximum of 3 9 points are allowed at the primary level, the rest must all achieve 10 points to be eligible to register for the exam.

In 2022, according to the list announced by the school, out of more than 1,200 candidates eligible to take the exam, all had a transcript with all 10 points, and it was very rare to see a score of 9 appearing on the exam registration forms. In 2023, many parents were upset because their children had a transcript with all 10 points but were still eliminated in the admission round because there were still no qualitative assessments such as "good completion" or "excellent completion".

In Ho Chi Minh City, the annual enrollment of 6th grade students at Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted attracts the attention of many parents and students. For many years, the Department of Education and Training has conducted the entrance exam for this school's secondary school through an English proficiency test in math, Vietnamese, English, science, history, geography, etc. On average, the competition rate for 6th grade students at Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted often fluctuates around 1/8, with an annual quota of about 500 students, about 4,000 students register for the exam.

Therefore, before the information that the enrollment of grade 6 students into specialized high schools may have to stop from this year because according to regulations, specialized high schools are not allowed to have a secondary school system and a non-specialized system, parents whose children plan to enroll in grade 6 at Tran Dai Nghia Specialized High School in the 2024-2025 school year are very worried.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Chau, a parent of a 5th grade student at Phan Dinh Phung Primary School (District 3), is worried and upset: "In the group of parents who plan to send their children to Tran Dai Nghia 6th grade, we have been quite worried since yesterday. For more than a year now, we have had a roadmap for our children to prepare knowledge and skills to participate in the entrance exam. But now, when the enrollment time is approaching, we have learned that Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, similar to Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted, is not allowed to enroll 6th grade students, we are very confused. If we have to do it, we need a roadmap, at least after this school year, then it will be reasonable."

Currently, there are two specialized high schools in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City that organize 6th grade entrance exams according to their own mechanisms.

Fierce selection

The Hanoi Department of Education and Training believes that if all applications are accepted, the "competition rate" will be extremely tense because admission to special schools is not divided into admission zones like admission to grade 6 of normal public secondary schools. Therefore, setting conditions for application documents is to filter out candidates who do not have enough capacity right from the qualifying round, avoiding wasting time for candidates and parents; on the other hand, reducing the burden and cost of organizing the exam because the quota for grade 6 of these schools is often limited.

The selection round is like that, the exam round is even more stressful, because it is a race of "the best students among the best".

After passing the first round, students will continue to take 3 competency assessment tests including: math, Vietnamese, English in the form of a combination of multiple choice and essay. Every year, the exam questions surprise teachers, even professors, because of their difficult level... If you do not study more, solve problems, and practice questions for a long time, you will not be able to achieve high scores.

A 5th grade teacher in Dong Da District shared: "The content of the questions in the test is all advanced knowledge but requires students to complete it at an extremely fast level. I calculate that students must complete a difficult question in 30 seconds. Without practicing with the test format for a long time, it is impossible to meet the requirements of such a level."

Professor Do Duc Thai, Hanoi National University of Education, editor-in-chief of the math subject in the 2018 General Education Program, also said that the entrance exams to these specialized schools are becoming increasingly complicated.

"It does not make students smarter and does not evaluate their intelligence," said Professor Thai, and strongly opposed the practice of considering all 10s in transcripts to be eligible to take the exam. He called it a way to create "fake goods" in education.

Viewpoints of the Department of Education and Training of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

Speaking to the press on March 6, a representative of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training said that the Department had received a document from the Ministry of Education and Training and was developing a plan and scheme for primary school enrollment, including preschool, grade 1, grade 6 and grade 10 enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year to report to the City People's Committee in the spirit of strictly complying with the provisions of the law. At the same time, the Department is also researching and advising the city to propose a specific mechanism with appropriate solutions in the enrollment of specialized high schools on the basis of meeting the wishes of parents and students and ensuring the quality of the capital's key training work.

The Department also said that the implementation of the junior high school block in Hanoi High School for the Gifted has been maintained for nearly 30 years and has achieved good results in creating a source of quality students. The legal basis for organizing a high-quality junior high school system and training specialized students at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted is the Capital Law, which allows Hanoi to "build a number of high-quality preschool and general education facilities in the area".

An official from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training said that they are in the process of developing a plan to enroll students in the first grade for the 2024-2025 school year. The enrollment plan will be submitted to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee for approval and the Department will announce it when there is official information.

Create the main source for high school specialized classes?

Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted is piloting a high-level secondary school system and training specialized students according to Decision No. 5029/QD-UBND dated September 29, 2009 of the Hanoi People's Committee. The Hanoi Department of Education and Training assessed that in recent years, the secondary school system of Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted has successfully completed its mission as the main source system for specialized high school classes to achieve excellent results in national and international competitions for excellent students.

In Ho Chi Minh City, in 2000, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued a decision to establish Tran Dai Nghia High School with a pilot model of enhancing English and students studying and living at school all day. Since its establishment, the school has enrolled 6th graders. In 2002, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued Decision No. 4072 allowing the conversion of Tran Dai Nghia High School into Tran Dai Nghia Specialized High School.

The principal of a junior high school in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, said that organizing junior high school in specialized schools can be considered an advantage when implementing the 2018 General Education Program at high school level, especially for specialized schools. Previously, in the 2006 General Education Program, students studying single subjects could clearly demonstrate their ability in specialized subjects at high school level, but with the 2018 General Education Program, junior high school students study integrated subjects, so understanding their ability to participate in specialized high school classes is also somewhat limited. Therefore, training junior high school in specialized high schools will help students get closer, fostering to provide a source of high-quality students for specialized high schools, excellent students to participate in excellent student competitions of the city and the country...

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