Social trends overwhelm nature

This once again raises concerns about future human resources as well as the current organization of elective teaching in high schools.

Consulting on choosing subjects for parents and students of grade 10 at Viet Duc High School (Hanoi)

SOCIAL SCIENCES STILL OVERWHELMING

Ms. Nguyen Boi Quynh, Principal of Viet Duc High School (Hanoi), said that English is still the subject chosen by the largest number of students for the 2025 high school graduation exam. The school has 810 students, of which 768 choose foreign languages, of which English is the main foreign language, accounting for 94.8%. In the remaining elective subjects, physics is chosen by the most students. Next are history and chemistry with approximately 200 students. The next positions are economic and legal education, geography, biology, with no students choosing technology.

Similarly, Mr. Dam Tien Nam, Principal of Nguyen Binh Khiem Secondary and High School (Hanoi), said that according to the survey results, among the two elective subjects, social sciences are still chosen much more than natural sciences. The number of students choosing English is in the top position, followed by the relatively equal subjects of physics, history, economic education and law; the number of students choosing chemistry and biology is very small.

The principal of Thach Ban High School (Hanoi) also said that out of 732 students, 613 chose English, 298 chose physics, 181 chose economic and legal education, 71 chose chemistry, 19 chose biology, 72 chose history, 27 chose geography, 2 chose computer science and no students chose technology. Thus, at Thach Ban School, the percentage of students choosing the traditional D block combination (math, literature, English) is the highest at 83.7%. In second place is block A1 (math, physics, English), with a rate of about 40.7%.

Students choosing group A (math, physics, chemistry) had a maximum of 71 students, accounting for 9.6%. Meanwhile, the number of students choosing group B (math, chemistry, biology) had a maximum of 19 students, accounting for 2.5%. The percentage of students choosing group C (literature, history, geography) was also relatively low, a maximum of 27 students, accounting for 3.6%.

While in most schools in Hanoi, English is the number one choice, in suburban schools, students tend to choose social subjects and "avoid" foreign languages. Lac Long Quan High School (Soc Son District, Hanoi) said that only about 70 out of more than 500 students chose to take the English exam. A survey of schools in Ba Vi, Ung Hoa, and My Duc showed that the number of students choosing to take the English exam was generally less than 100, accounting for less than 1/5. The number of students choosing social subjects also significantly outnumbered the number of students choosing natural subjects, at a rate of 7/3. Of which, the most chosen social subjects were economic and legal education. For natural subjects, students chose physics the most.

CHOOSE SOCIAL SCIENCES WITH THE THINKING OF EASY "GET" POINTS

Mr. Dinh Quang Dung, Principal of Lac Long Quan High School, explained that most of the school's students only aim to graduate and then go to vocational colleges. Therefore, they tend to choose social subjects with the thought of getting easy "scoring" points. In addition, although the school focuses on teaching English and encourages students to do well in this subject, students with low entrance requirements for grade 10 are reluctant to learn foreign languages.

Similarly, Tam Dao II High School (Vinh Phuc) has up to 60% of students registering for 2 elective subjects: history and geography; 40% registering for physics, chemistry and the remaining subjects, respectively; English is also among the subjects with very few students registering. With the characteristics of a mountainous school, concentrating many ethnic minority children, the academic performance of students is lower than the average of the province, so the biggest goal of students and the school is to strive to pass the high school graduation exam.

English is predicted to be the subject chosen by the largest number of students in big cities for the 2025 high school graduation exam.

photo: peach jade

CONSULTATION ON SELECTING SUBJECTS FROM GRADE 10 IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT

Mr. Dam Tien Nam said that the choice of subjects by students did not actually surprise the school because right from the time students entered grade 10, the first batch to take the high school graduation exam under the new plan, the school had to do a lot of research to come up with subject combinations to choose from. "We do not divide subject combinations according to natural sciences or social sciences, but build combinations that can match university admission trends, match many majors so that students have a clearer direction when choosing instead of just traditional combinations," Mr. Nam said.

Mr. Nam also assessed that the important thing for schools is not which subjects students choose to take, but the way the exam questions are created, the way the scores are calculated, and the differentiation in the exam questions have changed significantly, requiring teaching and reviewing to truly "transform" in the direction of assessing students' abilities instead of just testing knowledge as before. "The fact that students can choose up to 2/4 subjects is a huge advantage. Students can choose each subject according to their abilities and university admission orientation, instead of before, if they wanted to choose physics to apply for group A1, they had to take both biology and chemistry, leading to lower results in these subjects compared to the general level," Mr. Nam analyzed.

Ms. Nguyen Boi Quynh also emphasized the importance of early orientation for students from the time they choose subjects when entering grade 10. Not all students who have just graduated from junior high school clearly understand their strengths as well as determine the career they will pursue. Students are often afraid of natural science subjects because they think they are difficult and unattractive. However, if the school analyzes carefully, gives students time to research, and answers all their concerns, the situation will improve. If this time is ignored, the proportion of students choosing natural science subjects and social subjects will be seriously unbalanced, leading to limited choices for students when entering university as well as job opportunities in the future. (continued)

Choose subjects and choose university admission combination

Tran Anh Khoa, a 12A9 student at Nguyen Than Hien High School (Kien Giang), plans to apply for majors related to politics such as philosophy, Party building and state administration. At school, Khoa focuses on studying literature, history and geography to suit the admission combination. In addition, the male student self-reviews knowledge of the remaining subjects to participate in the capacity assessment exam of Ho Chi Minh City National University.

Similarly, Nguyen Phan Quynh Nhu, a 12D student at Nguyen Thien Thanh High School for the Gifted (Tra Vinh), will also take the aptitude test and graduation exam in math, literature, English and physics, with the goal of being admitted to majors such as journalism, marketing or law. The female student said: "I have been thinking about my major since middle school. But it was not until I entered high school that I realized that I am suitable for social sciences. However, I have not yet determined which major will be my priority because I am still wavering between the choices."

Lam Gia Huy, a 12A9 student at Tran Van Long High School (Tra Vinh), said: "Although I like working in groups and interacting with crowds, I am more interested in a job with long-term stability. I am also interested in technical drawing, so I decided to choose majors in the construction field to pursue my passion." In addition to focusing on math and English in the graduation exam, Huy is currently focusing on improving his drawing skills to take the aptitude test and apply to Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture.

Although there is still more than a year until her graduation exam, Tran Ngoc Tra My, an 11th grade English 1 student at Huynh Man Dat High School for the Gifted (Kien Giang), plans to apply for majors related to economics. The female student said she will review key subjects such as math, English, physics and chemistry; as well as self-study social subjects to complete the competency assessment test well. Phan Ngoc Thuy Trang, a 11th grade student at Kien Luong High School (Kien Giang), shared: "I plan to take both competency assessment tests of Ho Chi Minh City National University and Ho Chi Minh City University of Education to apply for majors in economics, psychology and pedagogy".

Tuan Ho

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chon-mon-thi-tot-nghiep-thpt-xu-huong-xa-hoi-lan-at-tu-nhien-185241204222627364.htm