Hanoi students study day and night to review for 10th grade entrance exam

Entering the second semester, Nguyen An Linh, a 9th grader at Yen Hoa Secondary School, Cau Giay (Hanoi), clearly feels the heat of the race to enter public grade 10. Except for Sunday evenings, Linh's weekday schedule is filled with regular classes, extra classes, and studying at a 10th grade exam review center.

Because she did not know whether the 10th grade entrance exam would have a fourth subject or not, on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings, Linh attended extra classes in Math - Literature - English, and on Monday, Wednesday and Friday she took extra classes in Physics, Chemistry and History. The remaining two subjects, Geography and Biology, were not too difficult, so the female student decided to study at home on Sundays.

Hanoi students struggle, studying day and night for the 10th grade entrance exam. (Illustration photo)

Every day, after coming home from extra classes at 10pm, Linh only rests for about 30 minutes, takes the time to shower, eats a few pieces of cake, then sits down at the table to do homework, practice exam questions, "never goes to sleep before 1am".

The huge amount of knowledge sometimes makes Linh feel tired and bored with studying, but if she doesn't try hard, she won't get good results in the upcoming exam. Linh's goal is to pass the 10th grade entrance exam to Cau Giay High School and Yen Hoa High School. Last year, the benchmark scores for these two schools were 41.5 and 42.25 points, respectively (an average of about 8.4 points per subject).

Seeing her child studying day and night, Ms. Ha Thi Lieu - Linh's mother, felt sorry: "The family always invests all their efforts in her studies and hopes to achieve high results in the upcoming 10th grade entrance exam. Knowing that my child studies hard, but there is no other way, I can only encourage her to try her best during this time" , Ms. Lieu said.

Ngo An Nguyen, a 9th grade student at Luong The Vinh Secondary School, aims to enter Luong The Vinh High School and Ngo Thi Nham High School. To achieve that goal, Nguyen spends most of his time studying at centers. Every day, after school, he attends 2 extra classes from 6pm to 10pm.

Busy with books, Nguyen doesn't have much time for entertainment so he is often stressed. "Every day I study until 1-2am, wake up at 7am and go to school again. Now is the final time to review knowledge so I take advantage of every moment, everywhere, to prepare as thoroughly as possible in terms of knowledge," Nguyen said.

Although Nguyen's parents did not force him or set his goals too high, the male student still put pressure on himself to get into a prestigious public school with good quality education.

Ms. Huynh Thi Quynh, a Literature teacher at a tutoring center in Hanoi, shared that this is the beginning of the final stretch, the number of parents registering their children for extra classes and intensive exam preparation has begun to increase. Ms. Quynh receives several calls every day asking about applying for extra classes for their children, but the center is currently overloaded, and the teachers are fully booked.

According to Ms. Quynh, this year the number of students enrolling in grade 10 at public schools in Hanoi has increased, which means the competition rate is also higher, so it is understandable that students are stressed and pressured in their revision. However, students should also study moderately and not push themselves too hard, which will affect their health and ability to absorb knowledge.

"Currently, I see many students studying very hard, working day and night at school, at home and taking extra classes, making them tired. I hope they can balance studying well and exercising well," said Ms. Quynh.

Up to this point, many localities have announced plans for the 10th grade entrance exam with adjustments to reduce the number of subjects to only organize 3 subjects (Math, Literature, English) to reduce pressure on students. Meanwhile, Hanoi has not yet finalized the plan for admission to 10th grade public high schools for the 2024-2025 school year.

Under great pressure, at this time, most students and parents want the city to soon finalize the 10th grade entrance exam plan with 3 subjects: Math, Literature, Foreign Language so that students can study and review with peace of mind, preparing well for the upcoming exam.

According to statistics from the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, in the 2024-2025 school year, it is expected that 134,942 students will register for admission to grade 10 of high school, an increase of 5,732 students compared to the 2023-2024 school year. Regarding the scale of public high schools, compared to the 2023-2024 school year (excluding autonomous public schools), in the 2024-2025 school year, it is expected that Hanoi will have 121 schools, an increase of 2 schools.

Khanh Son

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