Grade 10 Admissions: Confused with New Requirements

Worry

Ms. Pham Thi Kim Hue, Vice Principal of Chuong Duong Secondary School, Hoan Kiem (Hanoi) said that the results of the Math tests for 9th graders at the school were lower than in previous years. Regarding the format of the 10th grade entrance exam in Hanoi, according to Ms. Kim Hue, this year, candidates took the essay test, not the multiple choice test like the high school graduation exam. The new point of this year's entrance exam is the probability and statistics test. Ms. Hue assessed that compared to the 2006 generaleducation program, the 2018 program in Math has changed the least because it is a basic science subject. However, the current Math program is causing difficulties for teachers because many theorems between textbooks (at least 3 sets of Math textbooks in circulation in high schools) are not consistent.

Students taking the 10th grade exam for public high schools in 2024 in Hanoi . Photo: Trong Tai

The types of math problems in the 2018 program are not much different from the 2006 program, but according to the requirements of the goal of developing qualities and abilities, students must be proactive and improve their self-study skills. The current generation of students studying in junior high school has the characteristic of studying the 2006 program for 5 years, entering grade 6, studying the 2018 program but having to go through 2 years of online learning due to COVID-19. Therefore, students have difficulty with the requirements of the new program such as being proactive in self-study, proactive in learning. Meanwhile, the amount of practice time in class for students in the 2018 program is less than the old program. This also explains why students' test scores are not good. The nature of math is that students must practice by doing exercises. If there are more practice periods, they will have better skills.

One of the requirements of Mathematics in the 2018 general education program is practical application. According to Ms. Pham Thi Kim Hue, Hanoi's exam and assessment questions have begun to approach this requirement so that students can gradually get used to it.

Signs of improvement

The Gifted High School (Ho Chi Minh City National University) has just announced the results and score distribution of the 10th grade entrance exam in 2025. The exam was held from March 29-30, with the participation of over 1,000 candidates. Each candidate took 3 compulsory exams: Math, Literature, English and a specialized subject exam according to demand. The exam results showed that 714/1,060 non-specialized Math exams scored 5 points or less (accounting for over 67%). For the specialized Math exam, 270/312 exams scored 5 points or less, accounting for 86.5%. The average score of specialized Math was 2.47. There was one exam with the highest score of 9.25.

Sharing with the press, Dr. Tran Nam Dung, Vice Principal of the Gifted High School, said that the results of the non-math subject are really a bit worrying. Mr. Dung said that the non-math subject exam is usually quite easy, if students do not get 2 points or more, there is definitely a problem, or it could be in the exam, for example, it is too difficult, too strange, or it could be in the teaching and learning, the capacity development has not been developed enough.

Dr. Tran Nam Dung advises students when choosing to take exams for specialized schools or specialized classes of the Department of Education and Training to look at the curriculum framework and corresponding sample questions to have better preparation. According to Mr. Dung, from specific exams, it can be seen that the presentation ability of the majority of students is quite weak. Mr. Dung shares the secret to effective exams is to always have a minimum goal and a maximum goal. Once having a goal, students will have a review strategy and exam tactics. Mr. Dung believes that the most important result of mock exams or assessment exams is that students have determined where they are, what their strengths and weaknesses are, what mistakes need to be corrected, and what opportunities they have missed.

“I am happy that from the results of the recent mock exam, most students did well on word problems, a type of problem that students always had difficulty with in previous years. That is a bright spot. Many students did the test tightly and presented it clearly. That is the second bright spot,” said Mr. Dung. On the other hand, there are a few things that Mr. Dung wants to remind students about in the multiple-choice test section, they need to do it more carefully to avoid losing points. Most of the knowledge in this section is focused on grade 9 and is not too difficult, it is completely possible to do 7 or 8 questions. For the remaining sections, students need to practice hard, do it carefully, grasp the theory and how to apply it. Students need to pay attention to the requirements of the problem. Dr. Tran Nam Dung advised students to review the structure of the test and the sample test to have more focused review.

NGHIEM HUE

Source: https://tienphong.vn/tuyen-sinh-lop-10-bo-ngo-voi-nhung-yeu-cau-moi-post1734352.tpo