Strangely, physics teacher recruitment is not considered based on physics scores

Dong Thap University enrolls many pedagogical majors without major subjects in the admission combination - Photo: NT

In addition to physics education, some other majors of Dong Thap University also do not have a main subject in the admission combination such as chemistry education, which recruits from the combination of math - literature - physics, math - literature - English; biology education, which recruits from the combination of math - literature - chemistry...

This situation is not only happening at Dong Thap University but also at many universities across the country.

No major

At Hanoi Capital University, in addition to the physics subject combinations, the physics pedagogy major also considers the math - chemistry - English combination.

History Pedagogy Department of University of Education (Thai Nguyen University) recruits students based on the combination of math - literature - English.

Similarly, the geography education major of Hai Duong University recruits the combination of math - literature - English. The physics education major of Pham Van Dong University, in addition to the three combinations with physics, also recruits the combination of math - literature - English. The physics education major of Khanh Hoa University recruits the combinations of math - chemistry - English and math - chemistry - biology in addition to the two combinations with physics.

Meanwhile, although there are still main subjects in the admission combination, Dalat University has a way of calculating weights that are not main subjects.

In addition to mathematics pedagogy, the coefficient of mathematics for other pedagogical majors such as physics, chemistry, biology, and English is 2, while physics, chemistry, and biology are compulsory subjects in the admission combination, so they do not have a coefficient. Similarly, literature is calculated with a coefficient of 2 for the pedagogical majors of literature, history, and geography.

On the other hand, many schools calculate a coefficient of 2, or even a coefficient of 5 for the main subject in the admission combination. For example, Saigon University calculates a coefficient of 5 for the main subject of the major (history for history pedagogy, literature for literature pedagogy...).

For many years, the University of Education (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) has recruited students by major groups. Pedagogical majors are divided into two groups: mathematics - natural science pedagogy (including mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, natural science pedagogy) and literature - history - geography pedagogy. The school prescribes a common admission combination for the group.

For example, the math and natural science pedagogy group recruits four combinations: math - physics - chemistry, math - physics - English, math - chemistry - biology and math - literature - English.

Thus, candidates can apply for admission using one of four combinations and can choose to be assigned to the majors of physics, chemistry, and biology, majors in which candidates are not strong when applying.

Mr. Le Thai Hung, vice principal of the University of Education, said that this year the school will enroll students by major with separate combinations, not by group of majors as before.

Mixed opinions

Regarding the recruitment of teachers by combination without major subjects, Mr. Le Hoang Mai, head of quality assurance department of Dong Thap University, said that the school followed the regulations related to determining the combination for admission.

Although there is no main subject of the major, Mr. Mai said that the suitability of the major depends on many factors because candidates can study that subject in high school.

Mr. Tran Viet Thien, Vice Principal of Khanh Hoa University, affirmed that the admission combination was discussed by the school a lot before being officially announced. "When determining the combination, the candidate's thinking ability about the group of majors is evaluated.

When meeting the standards of a group of majors, one can study well in that group of majors. This helps to expand the enrollment target. However, when there are comments on the admission combination, the school will consider it" - Mr. Thien said.

On the other hand, many opinions say that enrolling students without major subjects will negatively affect students' learning as well as future training and teaching results. Mr. Tran Huu Duy, head of the training department of Dalat University, commented: "Recruiting students for teacher training without major subjects is not reasonable at all."

Explaining this, Mr. Duy said that if physics education and admissions do not include physics, it will not be possible to assess whether candidates are capable of this subject or not, and how students will learn. Not to mention that they will have to teach it later, affecting many generations of students.

Sharing this view, Mr. Le Minh Triet, Vice Principal of Saigon University, said that the nature of admission is to recruit the most candidates and those most suitable for the training sector.

"Without a major, the school can only recruit the most candidates. Candidates saying they like that major and are suitable for that major is just a qualitative way of saying it. Studying math pedagogy or any other pedagogy requires ability and love for that subject and is demonstrated by the scores that candidates achieve," Mr. Triet further analyzed.

Must have foundation

The deputy head of the training department of a university believes that every major requires a certain foundation. In particular, pedagogical majors are quite specific, students have to learn a lot about a narrow field related to the major. In addition to ability, they also need to have a love for that field to study well. Moreover, later when teaching, if they do not love it and have good ability, teaching will only be considered an obligation, not a passion for imparting knowledge.

Why multiply the coefficient of math and literature in the admission combination?

Dalat University plans to multiply the coefficient of math or literature by 2 for all pedagogical majors, regardless of which major they are, including English. Similarly, Saigon University will multiply the coefficient of 5 for main subjects and the coefficient of 3 for literature and math if they are not main subjects.

Mr. Tran Huu Duy said that according to the ministry's regulations, math and literature must account for 50% of the score in the combination, so multiplying the coefficients of these two subjects is to ensure the regulations.

"For the English major, we consider choosing the coefficient for math or literature. Information from the faculty shows that candidates who are good at math will learn foreign languages ​​better than students who are good at literature," Mr. Duy further explained.

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