NEW EXAM SUBJECTS
Dr. Nguyen Van Hieu, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, stated that the 2025 10th grade entrance exam will remain stable with three subjects: Vietnamese Literature, Mathematics, and Foreign Language. However, the level of differentiation and innovation in the exam questions for each subject will be calculated and adjusted by the Department to suit teaching and learning in the direction of assessing students' abilities, closely adhering to the goals of the 2018 General Education Program at the lower secondary level.
Regarding specialized 10th-grade classes, the Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training stated that the Department's direction is to replace the specialized subjects of physics, chemistry, biology, history, and geography with specialized subjects in natural sciences , history, and geography, in accordance with the 2018 General Education Program at the lower secondary level. However, at the upper secondary level, there will be appropriate guidance to help students choose the right specialized subjects in physics, chemistry, biology, history, and geography according to the 2018 General Education Program at the upper secondary level, linked to career orientation.
The head of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training said that it is expected that in October, sample exam questions for each subject in the entrance exam will be announced so that teachers and schools have direction in innovating teaching and assessment methods to closely follow the direction of assessing students' competencies.
This year's 9th-grade students will be the first group to take the 10th-grade entrance exam under the new curriculum.
PHOTO: DAO NGOC THACH
PROPOSED REDUCTION OF MATH QUESTIONS, INCREASE OF KNOWLEDGE
Mr. Cao Duc Khoa, Principal of Huynh Khuong Ninh Secondary School (District 1), said that this year, for students following the 2018 General Education Program, the 10th grade entrance exam in Ho Chi Minh City is even more closely aligned with the practical application orientation, encouraging and highly valuing creative thinking, competence, and character.
However, according to Mr. Khoa, for the subject of literature, when students are taught and tested without using materials from the textbook, they need to find and select works with similar themes and topics to create their own source of material for their essays. The earlier and more thorough this preparation, the higher the quality of the work.
Regarding mathematics, based on the guidance from the Department of Education and Training and the curriculum content, the head of the mathematics department at a junior high school in the central district stated that students still need to review knowledge of graphs, equations, systems of equations, Vieta's theorem, practical problems, and spatial geometry as before. However, this year's students need to prepare knowledge of probability and statistics because this content is included in the new curriculum. "This is mathematical knowledge learned from grades 7 to 9, progressing from basic to advanced levels. However, it will not be too difficult, but will require students to understand the formulas and apply them to calculations," the head of the department said, adding that in a professional meeting, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training plans to compile this year's entrance exam with 7 questions (one less than the 2024 grade 10 entrance exam).
According to a math teacher in District 1, ninth-grade students this year have been studying the 2018 general education program since sixth grade, and are already familiar with integrating knowledge with practical applications. After each chapter, there are experiential activities for students to apply their knowledge to real-world calculations. Therefore, students need to pay attention to these experiential activities.
Candidates taking the 10th grade entrance exam in Ho Chi Minh City for the 2023-2024 school year. There will be some changes to the 10th grade entrance exam in 2025 according to the new General Education Program.
PHOTO: DAO NGOC THACH
We need to change the way we teach and learn.
According to the 2024-2025 school year timeline issued by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the 2025 10th grade entrance exam will be held in June 2025.
Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Principal of Le Van Tam Secondary School (Binh Thanh District), said that with such an exam schedule, the school plans that, starting in mid-January 2025, when entering the second semester, teachers of exam subjects will proactively integrate teaching knowledge with review and familiarization with different types of questions and exam formats so that students have as much time as possible to get acquainted with them.
At the same time, based on the results of the 2024 10th grade entrance exam, the Principal of Le Van Tam Secondary School also requested that teachers and students change their learning methods and prepare their knowledge for the 2025 10th grade entrance exam, with a particular emphasis on mathematics. Mr. Tuan stated that students should not mechanically learn math problems in a rigid, formulaic way as in previous years. Teachers must also drastically change their teaching methods for students.
At Ha Huy Tap Secondary School (Binh Thanh District), Principal Hua Thi Diem Tram said that although the school has selected experienced teachers for the 9th grade entrance exam preparation, they still cautioned against complacency with this year's students. According to Ms. Tram, this is the first year of the entrance exam under the new curriculum, and students will inevitably experience anxiety and pressure. Therefore, teachers responsible for the exam subjects need to accurately assess and differentiate the students' abilities in order to provide appropriate support, reinforcement, or enhancement.
Mr. Tran Tuan Anh, a teacher at Thu Duc High School (Ho Chi Minh City), also emphasized that teachers and students need to change their teaching and learning methods. First and foremost, they need to change their mindset. Familiar mathematical knowledge such as transforming expressions, calculating expression values, solving equations, solving inequalities, proving... is not the ultimate goal of learning mathematics. It is merely a powerful tool for solving real-world problems.
Therefore, avoid rote learning by teaching students how to solve problems with predefined steps that they need to memorize. This restricts their creativity, constrains their thinking, and leaves them confused when they encounter unfamiliar types of math problems.
According to Mr. Tuan Anh, it is necessary to improve students' reading comprehension skills in understanding problems, comprehending and summarizing hypotheses, and understanding problem requirements... by providing vocabulary related to practical fields such as finance and statistics... Interspersed throughout the lesson are practical and relatable examples. Students must also learn the essence, understanding definitions and concepts of mathematical objects to use in problem-solving... Avoid the situation of memorizing formulas without knowing how to use them.
We must prevent situations where STUDENTS comment, "This is the first time I've seen a test like this."
At the conference to implement tasks for the 2024-2025 school year, regarding preparations for the high school entrance exam, Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, emphasized that the entrance exam for grade 10, which assesses students' abilities, is not new to Ho Chi Minh City. For the past 10 years, from 2014 to the present, Ho Chi Minh City has consistently pursued this goal.
In the 2025-2026 10th grade entrance exam, the Department of Education and Training will continue to steadfastly implement exam reform aimed at assessing students' competencies. However, this will be more clearly demonstrated in Ho Chi Minh City, in line with the direction of the 2018 General Education Program.
Mr. Hieu stated that in the new school year, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training will strengthen its guidance on teaching, testing, and evaluation at the lower secondary level, ensuring consistency and uniformity in accordance with the objectives of the 2018 General Education Program. In particular, the Department will conduct a comparative assessment of learning outcomes at the lower secondary level based on the required learning outcomes of the 2018 General Education Program. At the end of grade 9, students will have achieved the required learning outcomes set out in the new program for each subject.
"Right in the first semester, the Department will organize inspection teams to conduct on-site checks of the teaching and assessment innovation process in junior high schools. Department leaders, along with the professional departments, will closely monitor, inspect, review, and re-evaluate the teaching process in schools. During the process of building the assessment matrix for each subject in the school year, teachers must fully control the competencies required according to the 2018 General Education Program. Absolutely no situation should arise where students, upon facing a competency assessment test, comment: 'This is the first time I've seen a test like this'," Mr. Hieu emphasized.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tuyen-sinh-lop-10-nam-2025-tai-tphcm-nhung-kien-thuc-moi-trong-de-thi-185240923154413901.htm
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