WANT TO BE AUTONOMOUS
Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said that when giving comments on the draft circular amending and supplementing the Regulations on Secondary School and High School Admissions to replace the current circular, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City wishes to maintain and grant autonomy in choosing the third subject in the 10th grade entrance exam. That is, in addition to the two compulsory subjects of math and literature, Ho Chi Minh City proactively chooses a foreign language as the third subject in the spirit of ensuring comprehensive assessment of the learners' abilities and qualities in accordance with the 2018 General Education Program. This is also consistent with the goals of economic development and human resource training of each locality.
Mr. Minh analyzed that the goal of the 2018 General Education Program is not to evaluate students based on their knowledge of a subject but to focus on assessing their qualities, abilities, and ability to apply knowledge to solve practical problems.
In addition, with the 10th grade entrance exam in Ho Chi Minh City that has been held up to now, although foreign languages have been stable as the third subject, the learning results of students show that schools, teachers and students still ensure the goals and orientations of the program. In particular, for many years now, in the process of compiling and orienting the high school entrance exam, the Department of Education and Training has implemented a policy of increasing questions requiring the application of learned knowledge to solve real-life situations. The exam does not stop at testing the subject knowledge capacity but focuses on testing the application, reading comprehension and logical thinking capacity of students. Therefore, if students study skewedly or only study math, literature or English, it will be difficult for them to solve math exams that require the application of physics or chemistry knowledge... learned in the program to solve real-life problems.
C CHOOSE EXAM SUBJECTS SUITABLE FOR LOCAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS
According to the leader of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, the selection and determination of the third exam subject should be given to each locality. Because each locality develops a different educational development strategy, depending on the reality and characteristics. For example, for Ho Chi Minh City alone, the educational development strategy is to educate and train students with the qualities, abilities, and skills of global citizens, following the development trend of modern education to ensure the qualities in training high-quality human resources.
For many years now, 9th grade students in Ho Chi Minh City have been taking the 10th grade entrance exam with 3 subjects: math, literature, and foreign language.
PHOTO: DAO NGOC THACH
In accordance with Conclusion 91 of the Politburo and the tasks assigned by the leaders of the Ministry of Education and Training, from this school year onwards, Ho Chi Minh City is gradually preparing for the pilot process of using English as the second language in schools. Therefore, the city's choice of a third foreign language as the exam subject is also suitable for the goal of continuous development.
Dr. Nguyen Thanh Binh, Head of the English Department of Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, supports giving localities the right to proactively choose the third subject in the 10th grade entrance exam, and in the current context of the city, continuing to keep foreign language as the third subject is the right thing to do.
Regarding the 10th grade entrance exam for the 2024-2025 school year, Mr. Ho Tan Minh said that Ho Chi Minh City's viewpoint is to maintain the organization as in previous school years, on the basis of reviewing and ensuring compliance with the regulations in the junior high school and high school entrance exam regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training.
Specifically, for many years now, the 10th grade entrance exam in Ho Chi Minh City has been held with 3 compulsory subjects: math, literature, and foreign language. The representative of the Department of Education and Training also said that with the goal of reducing psychological pressure for candidates when first approaching the exam according to the 2018 General Education Program, the Department of Education and Training will fully and clearly announce the contents related to the organization and regulations in the 10th grade entrance exam.
Still collecting opinions on 10th grade exams
Speaking on the sidelines of the conference summarizing the organization of the high school graduation exam for the period of 2020 - 2024 and preparing for the high school graduation exam from 2025, which took place in Ho Chi Minh City on October 31, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong said that the 10th grade exam plan is still in the process of collecting opinions from localities. The spirit of the 10th grade exam from 2025 will include 2 subjects: literature, math and a 3rd subject chosen by the Department of Education and Training from the remaining subjects, which are assessed by scores. The Ministry's policy is to choose the 3rd subject based on the principle of annual changes to avoid biased learning and rote learning, so that students have enough capacity and qualities to take the high school entrance exam or switch to vocational training.
Faced with the fact that many localities want to keep the 3 subjects of the 10th grade exam stable: math, literature and English, the Deputy Minister of Education and Training said that it could easily lead to consequences. According to the Deputy Minister, if the 3rd subject of the 10th grade exam is fixed as before, for schools with good principal management, there will not be a situation of lopsided learning. However, because many schools from the beginning of the school year only focus on 3 subjects of the 10th grade exam, while other subjects are not concerned even though knowledge of geography, history and science is very necessary for students.
TO AVOID STUDYING IN THE SAME WAY, LEARNING BY ROTE
Analyzing that the stability of the third subject is not the cause of concerns about rote learning and lopsided learning, Mr. Cao Duc Khoa, Principal of Huynh Khuong Ninh Secondary School (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), said that 9th grade students still have to complete the subjects in the program and ensure the requirements for secondary school graduation. In particular, the regulations on graduation of the 2018 General Education Program clearly state that to graduate from secondary school with honors, one must have at least 6 subjects with an average score of over 8 points, and to graduate with honors, one must have at least 6 subjects with an average score of over 6.5 points. "Choosing the third subject as a foreign language does not affect the implementation of the 2018 General Education Program, which is to develop the learner's qualities and abilities. Because in order to participate in the 10th grade entrance exam, students must complete all the subjects to be considered for secondary school graduation and also satisfy the condition of good academic performance to register for the 10th grade of specialized high schools," Mr. Khoa emphasized.
Literature class for 9th grade students in Ho Chi Minh City
PHOTO: DAO NGOC THACH
Mr. Huynh Thanh Phu, Principal of Bui Thi Xuan High School (District 1), said that the goal of the 2018 General Education Program is clear, knowledge at the secondary level is fundamental knowledge, solid foundation, so the management level must strengthen inspection and supervision work and the school must strictly manage to prevent program cuts. Secondary schools must fulfill their responsibility to equip students with basic knowledge of all subjects. When students enter high school, they have the choice of subjects to suit their career orientation.
The third subject changes every year, what are the requirements?
Mr. Huynh Thanh Phu said that if the third exam subject changes every year, students will have to focus on many different subjects instead of focusing on a few main subjects. This helps build a more comprehensive knowledge foundation, increases understanding and requires students to be adaptable and flexible to change. However, the instability of exam subjects can create psychological stress for students, making it difficult for students to make long-term study plans, especially for students who need more time to prepare for subjects they are not strong at.
To achieve maximum effectiveness, each locality needs to have a plan to announce the exam subjects early, support teachers and schools to adjust the teaching program accordingly. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen psychological and academic support measures to help students adapt better to this change.
Ms. Hua Thi Diem Tram, Principal of Ha Huy Tap Secondary School (Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City), said that if the third exam subject changes every year, the Department must announce it early, at the beginning of each school year, so that schools, teachers, and students can prepare knowledge and mentality, and cannot keep to the previous time regulation of before March 31.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mon-thi-thu-3-ky-thi-lop-10-cua-tphcm-se-theo-huong-nao-185241110170652555.htm
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