The 20% early admission rate doesn't mean much to universities.

The Ministry of Education and Training is seeking comments on a draft Circular amending and supplementing a number of articles of the regulations on university and college admissions for Preschool Education. In the draft Circular, the Ministry of Education and Training adds regulations on early admission quotas set by training institutions but not exceeding 20% ​​of the quota for each training major and group of majors.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son also said that because of early admission, students who have not completed the high school graduation program were admitted, creating unfairness, as well as negative impacts on general education teaching and learning. Therefore, when reducing the early admission rate, only those students with truly outstanding abilities will be admitted directly. Students focus on the general admission round to ensure fairness, quality as well as efficiency and convenience.

In the draft Circular, the Ministry of Education and Training added regulations on early admission quotas set by training institutions but not exceeding 20% ​​of the quotas of each training major and group of majors. (Illustration photo)

Talking to VOV.VN about this issue, Dr. Le Dinh Nam, Deputy Head of Admissions and Career Guidance Department of Hanoi University of Science and Technology, supported reducing the rate of early admission: “According to the original spirit of the Ministry of Education and Training, early admission is only for recruiting elite students, but if early admission is conducted in a mass manner, it will be impossible to calculate the virtual level, thereby causing difficulties in the admission process of schools. In fact, schools announcing early admission is one thing, but the important thing is how candidates later set their wishes, that is what really matters.

Meanwhile, many students, even though they have not finished grade 12, know that they are "sure" to get into a school or a number of universities, which will affect their spirit of studying and taking exams. Over the years of enrollment, there have been cases where candidates with only average academic performance, but who have not graduated from high school, have been announced as accepted by 5-7 schools. This creates unfairness in enrollment. Therefore, reducing the rate for early admission is reasonable."

Dr. Le Dinh Nam said that it is important to communicate so that parents and students understand correctly and do not panic when they hear that the rate for early admission may be reduced. On social networking forums, many parents believe that candidates have spent time and effort studying foreign language certificates to serve early admission, and if the rate is reduced, it will affect the rights of candidates. However, it is important to understand that the admission methods of schools will not change much, the biggest change is the time to announce the results. Instead of universities announcing candidates who are eligible for admission when they have not yet graduated from high school, they will announce the admission results at the same time as the general admission round on the system of the Ministry of Education and Training.

According to Dr. Le Dinh Nam, the Ministry's proposal of a 20% early admission option is to help schools have the right to choose to continue early admission or stop altogether, depending on each school. But the 20% figure is not significant, because the virtuality of early admission is very high. Because when the quota for early admission is reduced, the candidates who are eligible for admission will be in the "top" group, for these students, the virtuality is even greater, because candidates have many other options. Thus, the admission rate of candidates from 20% will not be high, not very meaningful to the schools. Dr. Le Dinh Nam said that depending on each school, there will be certain adjustments in the early admission work in 2025.

Dr. Le Viet Khuyen, Vice President of the Association of Vietnamese Universities and Colleges, also said that early admission should be considered in university admissions. This is consistent with international practice (according to ISCED 2011) that if one has not completed a high school program, one will not be able to directly access higher education. Article 34 of the Education Law also emphasizes that students who have completed high school and are eligible to take the exam, if they do not take the exam or fail the exam, will be granted a certificate of completion of the general education program and will only be allowed to study vocational education.

Article 28 of the Education Law also states that in special cases, students are allowed to skip grades only in groups with early intellectual development, but this case is very rare.

Article 34 of the Law on Higher Education (Clause 2) clearly states: Higher education institutions are only allowed to autonomously decide on the admission method (entrance exam or a combination of entrance exam and admission). The content and difficulty of the exam must be consistent with the high school curriculum and the orientation of the field of study. For example, IELTS scores cannot be the sole criterion for admission to all fields of study.

Therefore, Dr. Le Viet Khuyen believes that if you have not completed high school, you cannot participate in university admission and there is no concept of early university admission if you have not completed high school.

Speaking more about the university admission trend from 2025, Dr. Le Viet Khuyen said that many schools are reducing admission quotas based on the results of the high school graduation exam, many schools organize their own exams such as thinking assessment exams, capacity assessment exams. Meanwhile, it is also necessary to frankly admit that there are still many "lower" schools that offer many "strange" admission methods, not for career guidance purposes but just to recruit enough candidates.

According to experts, the admission process is still "chaotic" and ineffective. Candidates have to attend many extra classes from high school graduation exam preparation to separate exams, foreign language certificate exams for university admission...

Dr. Le Viet Khuyen recommends that the Ministry of Education and Training needs to innovate the method of examination and recognition of high school graduation in the direction of reducing pressure and costs for society while still ensuring reliability, honesty, and correct assessment of students' abilities, as a basis for vocational education and university education enrollment... At the same time, the Ministry also needs to regulate the unified and reasonable admission combinations, resolutely eliminating "strange" combinations.

Dr. Le Viet Khuyen emphasized that in 2025, the first batch of students of the 2018 General Education Program will attend the high school graduation exam and apply for admission to universities, so it is necessary to provide full information to candidates, parents and schools early to proactively prepare.

Source: https://vov.vn/xa-hoi/ty-le-20-xet-tuyen-som-khong-co-nhieu-y-nghia-voi-cac-truong-dai-hoc-post1141152.vov