In recent days, the education sector has been continuously discussing the Ministry of Education and Training’s plan to tighten early admission and propose changes in the review of academic records. Reading articles about this issue, I just think: “This should have been done sooner.”
Academic scores "skyrocketed"
GPA is a factor that evaluates students' learning and training ability in an objective and fair way. But in recent years, when the selection of high school transcripts has flourished, I find that this score is no longer fair because it is "increased" unreasonably.
I am a subject teacher, in charge of only certain classes. At the end of the semester or the end of the school year, the homeroom teachers of the classes meet me privately, asking me to “help raise the grades” of the students with the reason that “only if their grades are stable will we be able to confidently consider their transcripts.”
Ms. KA does not support the current widespread admission based on academic records. (Illustration: Khuong Nguyen)
A parent even came to my house, bringing a gift to ask me to raise their child’s score, but I refused. When they left, the parent still said “everything depends on the teacher”. I also don’t understand why they depend on me for everything, when studying is their child’s responsibility.
At the beginning of my teaching career, I had no experience so I refused all requests to raise my grades. But gradually, I realized that “improving students’ grades” had become an “unspoken rule” in the school. Not only me, teachers in many other schools also did the same thing, even raising grades very aggressively. So if I didn’t do it, I would be an outcast.
So I also started to get used to raising students' grades, from oral exams to 15-minute and one-period tests. But I still raised grades selectively, only raising those students who were really capable of learning, but did not perform well on tests. I could not turn an average student into a good student. I did not do that because it would be harmful to them, making them think they were good and neglect their studies.
The Ministry of Education and Training needs to be more aggressive
For many years, university admission based on academic records has always been controversial, but universities still use it, even imposing quite large quotas. I understand why schools do it.
Nowadays, domestic universities are not the only path for students. They can study abroad, work abroad or learn a trade to get a job faster. Public universities exist strongly, private universities are springing up like mushrooms, but the number of candidates wishing to study at university is not increasing much, causing supply to begin to exceed demand. When supply is greater, some schools are forced to find ways to attract students, and the method of considering transcripts is the most optimal solution.
Personally, I think the current phenomenon of mass inflating transcript scores is partly the fault of the schools. When schools set admission criteria based on transcripts - which can be combined with other factors or considered independently - students will want to improve their final grades to increase their chances of admission. At that time, teachers - who are very concerned about students' chances of getting into university - will find ways to support them to improve their transcripts.
I also think that the early admission based on academic records of many schools is not really good. Schools often allow students to apply during the school year and only use the scores of 5 semesters (except for semester 2 of grade 12). The problem with this is that students may have the mentality of neglecting their studies in the remaining semester, while that semester is very important because it is the final stage to prepare for the high school graduation exam.
Therefore, when the Ministry of Education and Training plans to tighten the early admission quota and reset the regulations on considering transcripts, I strongly support and hope that the Ministry will promote this plan as soon as possible. I also hope that the Ministry will be more strict in managing the examination of transcripts at schools, avoiding the situation of open admission, causing students to lack skills and knowledge and then find it difficult to pursue university programs.
In addition, I also want to send my hope to universities to reconsider the process of considering transcripts for admission. Instead of considering transcripts independently as some schools are doing now, I hope that this score should only be a secondary factor, or become a form of bonus point in admission, like regional bonus points or priority points.
As for the students, I hope they understand that studying at school is for themselves and their future. Therefore, instead of expecting teachers to raise their grades to make it easier for them to get into university, they should set goals to practice early, both to improve their grades and to improve their knowledge to do well in university entrance exams.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/nang-diem-hoc-ba-cho-hoc-sinh-dang-duoc-binh-thuong-hoa-ar910360.html
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