The reason why many schools in Ho Chi Minh City have drastically reduced their enrollment quota for grade 10

Many top schools reduce enrollment targets

Of the 115 public schools that announced their enrollment targets for grade 10 in the 2025-2026 school year, 69 schools have reduced their enrollment targets. The school with the biggest reduction is Thanh Da High School (Binh Thanh District) with 315 enrollment targets – the highest reduction this year.

Other high schools reduced their enrollment quotas by 225-270, including high schools: Giong Ong To (Thu Duc City), Nguyen Chi Thanh (Tan Binh District), Da Phuoc (Binh Chanh District), Phuoc Long (Thu Duc City), Hiep Binh (Thu Duc City), Tran Khai Nguyen (District 5), Ngo Quyen (District 7), Vo Truong Toan (District 12), Tay Thanh (Tan Phu District) and Vinh Loc (Binh Chanh District).

Students taking the 10th grade entrance exam in Ho Chi Minh City for the 2024-2025 school year. Photo: Duy Anh

Notably, among the schools that reduced their enrollment quotas, there are many units in the top group in terms of benchmark scores, such as: Bui Thi Xuan High School (District 1), Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School (District 3), Nguyen Huu Huan High School (Thu Duc City), Mac Dinh Chi High School (District 6), Phu Nhuan High School (Phu Nhuan District) and Nguyen Huu Cau High School (Hoc Mon District).

Explaining the reduction of 315 enrollment targets for grade 10 in the 2025-2026 school year, Mr. Le Huu Han (Principal of Thanh Da High School) said the main reason is that the number of grade 12 students graduating this year is only 11 classes. With the current training scale of 44 classes, the school can only enroll the corresponding number of grade 10 students, that is 11 classes, instead of maintaining the same number as in previous years.

According to Ms. Do Thi Viet Phuong (Vice Principal of Vo Truong Toan High School), in the 2025-2026 school year, the school will reduce 5 10th grade classes (225 quotas) compared to the previous year. The reason is that the school is preparing to start construction on a new project, and there are not enough classrooms to maintain the same enrollment scale. The project is expected to start in May and be completed within 1 to 1.5 years.

“Although it is not desirable, the school is forced to reduce the quota to suit current conditions. Hopefully, when the new, spacious facility is built, the quota will be increased again,” Ms. Phuong shared.

To meet the learning needs in the area, two schools neighboring Vo Truong Toan High School, Truong Chinh High School and Thanh Loc High School, have increased their enrollment quotas this school year.

Few schools increase quotas

On the other hand, 21 schools increased their quotas, ranging from 5 to 135 students. Of which, Vinh Loc B High School (Binh Chanh District) increased the most with 135 quotas, followed by Gia Dinh High School (Binh Thanh District) with an increase of 105, Nguyen Thuong Hien High School (Tan Binh District) with an increase of 95 and Nguyen Huu Tien High School (Hoc Mon District) with an increase of 90. In addition, 25 schools kept their quotas the same as the previous school year.

Besides the fluctuation in enrollment quotas, the differentiation in enrollment scale between schools is also noteworthy.

Three schools with enrollment targets of over 1,000 students are Mac Dinh Chi High School (District 6) with 1,060, Hung Vuong High School (District 5) with 1,035 and Marie Curie High School (District 3) with 1,000. In addition, other large-scale schools such as Gia Dinh High School (Binh Thanh District), Tay Thanh High School (Tan Phu District), Tran Hung Dao High School (Go Vap District) and Nguyen Trung Truc High School (Go Vap District) all enroll 900 students or more.

The total quota for public grade 10 this year is 70,070 students, while the number of students graduating from junior high school is expected to be 88,210. Thus, about 79% of grade 9 students will have a place in public schools. However, due to the decrease in the number of grade 9 students this year, the total quota is also about 7,000 lower than last year.

Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Office of the Departmentof Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the Department has just submitted to the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City for consideration the increase of enrollment quota for grade 10 at 3 schools, including: Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted, Nguyen Thi Dinh High School for the Gifted in Sports and the newly established high school in Binh Tan District. If the above proposal is approved by the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, the enrollment quota for grade 10 public schools this year will reach more than 80%, instead of 79% as announced.

Mr. Nhan

Source: https://tienphong.vn/ly-do-hang-loat-truong-o-tphcm-giam-sau-chi-tieu-vao-lop-10-post1733679.tpo