When will education policy stop "braking"?

Stop enrolling 6th grade students at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted.

Regulations that "make it difficult" for the 2024 enrollment season

The Hanoi Department of Education and Training (DoET) announced that it will stop enrolling students in grade 6 at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted from the 2024 - 2025 school year. Non-specialized classes that have been enrolled in previous school years will continue to study until the end of the grade. This suspension of enrollment is implemented according to the regulations in Circular No. 05/2023/TT-BGDDT promulgating the regulations on organization and operation of specialized high schools, only organizing specialized classes in specialized high schools.

Along with the secondary school system of Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, the secondary school system of Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted (Ho Chi Minh City) is also affected by this regulation.

After this decision, many parents and students expressed their regret. Student Nguyen Huu Anh (An Khanh, Hoai Duc, Hanoi) said: "All my plans had to change when the decision was made to stop enrolling students in grade 6 at Ams2 school. I feel very regretful."

Mr. Pham Hoang Giang (Hanoi) said: "One reason why parents invest a lot when they see that their children have good qualities is not because of the name of a specialized school. I see that in specialized schools, in each class there are students of the same level, so the teaching method of the teachers is certainly more effective. With a team of good teachers, providing additional support for teaching, the educational effectiveness will certainly be good."

On the forum “Accompanying the English gifted student exams” there are 146,900 followers, many comments and shares. A parent shared: "I do not have a child studying at Ams school, nor do I have a need for my child to take the exam there, but I think that good students need to be focused on studying separately."

In a document responding to Hanoi regarding enrollment in grade 6 at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, the Ministry of Education and Training requested the city to direct this matter in accordance with regulations.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Director of the Department of Secondary Education, Ministry of Education and Training, the 2005 Education Law stipulates that specialized schools only exist at the high school level. This content is also maintained in the 2019 Education Law. The model of secondary school blocks in specialized schools is not included in any legal regulations. However, due to historical existence, there are two schools, Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted (Ho Chi Minh City) and Hanoi - Amsterdam (Hanoi), that have secondary school blocks.

In 2023, the Ministry of Education and Training issued Circular 05 on the regulations on the organization and operation of specialized high schools. Accordingly, specialized high schools will no longer have non-specialized classes. Therefore, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh emphasized: "Non-specialized junior high school classes in specialized schools must stop enrolling students."

Also in the 2024 enrollment season, the Ministry of Education and Training issued a document requesting the People's Committees of provinces and cities to properly implement the regulations on enrollment for junior high school and high school issued in 2019. The official dispatch of the Ministry of Education and Training clearly stated: "For provinces that have approved plans and methods for enrollment for grade 10 high school that are not in accordance with regulations on direct enrollment and preferential policies, adjustments must be made and publicly announced." The Ministry will inspect and examine the enrollment for grade 10 in a number of localities.

The above request was made by the Ministry of Education and Training when some localities announced the 10th grade enrollment plan for the 2024-2025 school year, applying the form of adding priority points and directly admitting candidates with international English certificates - IELTS from 4.0 or higher.

Explaining the reason for this suspension, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh said: "It must be affirmed that the regulations on admission from junior high school to high school of the Ministry of Education and Training do not have regulations on using IELTS certificates for direct admission and the Ministry of Education and Training has never allowed this. That is, it requires compliance with regulations."

Mr. Thanh said that the Ministry of Education and Training recently noticed that some localities have approved enrollment plans, which include additional content beyond the Ministry's regulations. Therefore, the Ministry of Education and Training requires those localities to immediately adjust this to implement enrollment in accordance with enrollment regulations issued by the Ministry of Education and Training.

The inspection is not thorough?

In the information about stopping enrollment in grade 6 at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted (also known as Ams2), Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Education and Training Nguyen Quang Tuan said that stopping enrollment in Ams2 is under the direction of the city, after the request of the Ministry of Education and Training. In the coming time, the Department will study to advise and propose to the City People's Committee to have a plan in accordance with current regulations, ensuring the requirements of training high-quality students, meeting the aspirations of students and parents in the capital.

Unlike Hanoi, which is still looking for solutions, recently, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee decided to separate Tran Dai Nghia Specialized School into two independent schools, including a specialized school and a combined secondary and high school. Secondary school students of the old specialized school will be transferred to the combined school, and new students will be recruited normally, starting from the next school year.

Previously, a representative of the Department of Education and Training said that the organization of a high-quality secondary school system at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted was carried out in accordance with the Capital Law. The Law allows Hanoi to build a number of high-quality preschool and general education facilities with criteria on facilities, teaching staff, programs, teaching methods and educational services. This is a special policy. Since 2009, the Hanoi People's Committee has allowed a pilot training program for a high-quality secondary school system, creating a source for specialized students at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted.

However, the question is which law should be followed between the Capital Law and the 2005 Education Law. On the other hand, is it appropriate for only Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to have this special policy?

The secondary school system of Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted has been maintained for nearly 30 years and is one of the facilities that is considered to have good quality. The school's 6th grade enrollment is always overloaded and is a hot spot every enrollment season. Specifically, the enrollment quota is only 200 students but there are usually about 3,000 applications for enrollment.

Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted was established by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee in 2002, transferred from Tran Dai Nghia High School. This is also the only high school for the gifted in Ho Chi Minh City that enrolls students in the junior high school system like Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted. Currently, the whole school has about 3,000 students in both junior high school and high school levels, of which only the high school system provides specialized training.

Thus, according to the explanation, localities and schools have a "waiting period" to prepare for this complete suspension of enrollment. Although the regulations are in place or there is a "waiting period" to implement the above regulations, many parents and students are still surprised by the above regulations in the 2024 enrollment season. So, is it possible that the inspection, examination, and urging of the implementation of regulations between the Ministry of Education and Training and localities is not smooth and thorough?

Admissions to the first level, for each individual student and family, are important steps; therefore, in reality, families and parents have had orientations for students for several years. Therefore, the two recent decisions on admissions to the first level of the education sector have to some extent made candidates and families passive. Therefore, many parents propose: Regulations related to education, especially admissions, need to have a "waiting period" so that learners can be proactive, have a review and preparation plan. At the same time, inter-sectoral inspections also need to be stricter so that facilities can properly implement the regulations that have been set. Only then will new educational policies stop "suddenly braking", learners will have orientation and receive fairness in admissions.

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