University uses 'strange' admission combination: Affects training quality

C 2018 General Education Program with Clear Career Orientation

Sharing with Thanh Nien reporter, Dr. Nguyen Duc Nghia, former Vice Director of Ho Chi Minh City National University, said that one point candidates need to pay special attention to when considering admission based on this year's high school graduation exam scores is the subject combination, which comes from the characteristics of the 2018 General Education Program.

Grade 12 students are currently reviewing subject combinations for graduation exams and university entrance exams.

PHOTO: DAO NGOC THACH

If you are admitted to a major that requires background knowledge of a subject you did not learn in high school, for example, pharmacy without chemistry or biology, how will you study in university?

Head of training department of a technical university in Ho Chi Minh City

Dr. Nguyen Duc Nghia emphasized: "When issuing the 2018 General Education Program, the goal from grade 10 to grade 12 is the career-oriented education stage". According to the information published about the program, the subject system and educational activities of the General Education Program at this stage are selected according to career orientation. For example, in grade 10, history and geography help students have a solid foundation for clear and appropriate career orientation; in grades 11 and 12, the program aims to support students with career orientation in the fields of social sciences and humanities as well as some related sciences...

Therefore, as soon as they enter grade 10, students of the 2018 General Education Program will study 9 compulsory subjects and educational activities including: literature, math, foreign language 1, history, physical education, national defense and security education, experiential activities - career guidance, local educational content. In addition, students only choose 4 more subjects from the elective subjects including: geography, economic and legal education, physics, chemistry, biology, technology, information technology, music, and fine arts. "With this method, students do not study all the subjects in the General Education Program as before. In the old General Education Program, students, even though they study in separate streams, still study all subjects. Now, in the new program, the nature of the separate streams is even stronger when students do not study subjects other than their career orientation," Dr. Nghia analyzed.

M EXPAND THE SUBJECT COMBINATION TO ENSURE RECRUITMENT SOURCE

From the curriculum, the 2025 high school graduation exam regulations also stipulate that students will only take 2 compulsory subjects (math, literature and 2 elective subjects from the subjects studied in the general education program. In theory, according to Dr. Nghia, this exam method will create 36 combinations of 4 graduation exam subjects. From the graduation exam subjects, 81 combinations of 3 subjects for university admission will be generated. But in reality, because students do not study all the subjects in the 2018 general education program, the number of graduation exam subject combinations for each student will be less than 36, the number of university admission combinations from the subjects studied will also be lower than 81. The problem that universities need to do is to build enough admission combinations for students to choose from while still ensuring that the basic knowledge of the learner is suitable for the profession.

But in reality, many universities have expanded the maximum number of admission subject combinations to ensure the source of admission. At that time, regardless of the subjects chosen by the candidate, they are guaranteed to be able to register for admission to the school. Currently, there are universities that have announced the use of up to 20 admission subject combinations for one major - much higher than the regulation of a maximum of 4 admission subject combinations per major of previous years.

Not stopping there, many schools use admission combinations that do not have core subjects suitable for the training major, for example, pharmacy does not consider biology and chemistry, physics pedagogy does not consider physics, and economic and legal education subjects are used to consider engineering and nursing majors... In that context, Dr. Nghia acknowledged: "The fact that many universities build admission combinations that are not career-oriented and lack core subjects for the training major will lead to the failure to achieve the goals of the 2018 General Education Program. In other words, there is no compatibility between the career-oriented goals of the curriculum and the reality of choosing university admission subjects in the above cases".

Grade 12 students are studying hard to prepare for important exams.

Photo: Dao Ngoc Thach

" IN UNIVERSITY, HOW DO YOU STUDY ?"

From a training perspective, experts from several major universities also expressed disagreement with the admission process using combinations that lack core subjects related to the training industry.

The head of the training department of a technical university in Ho Chi Minh City commented: "University training needs to be based on the foundation of general education, especially in specific fields such as health, engineering and technology... Students studying these fields without basic knowledge from core subjects will not be okay."

Citing a practical example, the head of this department analyzed: "For example, in engineering fields, if students are recruited without a good foundation of knowledge in the two subjects of mathematics and physics, they will not be able to study the university program. Although in the 4-year training program, the basic knowledge of the field is taught related to these subjects, but it is not basic knowledge like in high school. If there is no background knowledge, even the basic subjects of the field cannot be learned."

"Not to mention this year, students of the 2018 General Education Program graduated from high school and entered university. This generation of students did not complete all the subjects of high school, there are subjects they have not studied for the past 3 years. If they are admitted to a major that requires background knowledge of subjects they did not study in high school, for example, pharmacy without chemistry or biology, then how will they study in university?", this expert asked.

From the above analysis, this expert is concerned: "To meet the enrollment quota, some universities are using the permitted regulations of the enrollment regulations to expand the maximum selection combination without paying attention to the issue of career orientation. This method not only affects the quality of training but can also cause bad consequences for the students themselves - being admitted but not being able to continue studying, having to drop out of school halfway".

The leader of a university related to the social sciences also affirmed: "In principle, the university training program is a continuation of general education. Therefore, if we recruit students without basic knowledge of a field of knowledge necessary for the training program, we cannot ensure the program's output standards. For example, if we recruit physics teachers but do not consider physics - that is, we do not select from those who have studied physics in the high school program, then what will the learning be like?"

"If recruiting students in this way, the school will be forced to rebuild the university training program. In particular, the program needs to have time to train students in the basic knowledge of important fields to ensure that the output standards are met. However, if the school still uses the current training program for students with strange combinations, it is not suitable," this leader emphasized.

This person also believes that the current way of building admission combinations of many schools is clearly not against the regulations. "But the nature of the problem is to serve the goal of recruiting enough students, not aiming at the goal of recruiting students suitable for the training sector. This, in the long run, will affect the training process and quality of the school itself," this person assessed.

What does the university say about the "strange" subject combination?

Sharing with Thanh Nien reporter, Dr. Tran Viet Thien, Vice Principal of Khanh Hoa University, said that the Ministry of Education and Training has just issued the enrollment regulations and the school is in the process of developing an enrollment plan. In which, the subject combination is an important content, from the proposal of specialized faculties, the school's Admissions Council will consider and decide in the official enrollment plan.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/truong-dh-su-dung-to-hop-xet-tuyen-la-anh-huong-chat-luong-dao-tao-185250327230914565.htm