Surprise and concern about changes in the 2017 national high school exam plan

(Baonghean.vn) - On the afternoon of September 8, the Ministry of Education and Training officially announced the Draft Plan for the 2017 High School Graduation Exam and University and College Admissions. With many new features in the organization of the exam, exam format, exam questions, admissions... the draft is receiving the attention of many teachers, students, parents and public opinion.

To have a more objective view on this issue, Nghe An Newspaper has sought opinions from a number of teachers and students.

Student Tran Duc Toan, Grade 12 A1, Huynh Thuc Khang High School:We were really surprised by the decision of the Ministry of Education and Training when it released the draft plan for the 2016 National High School Exam. Because at this time, 12th grade students have entered their final year of school. Meanwhile, we had to prepare for the University Entrance Exam for 3 years.

For me, I chose block A so there will be a big change, especially in Math when changing from essay to multiple choice. Of course, no matter what the format is, we will have to solve the math problems to get the results, but before we had 180 minutes to do the test (with 10 exercises). Now we only have 90 minutes to answer 50 questions, which is too little time.

In addition, for candidates taking the A block exam, in addition to the three compulsory subjects of Math, Literature, and Foreign Language, we have to study two more subjects: Physics and Chemistry. Currently, if we take the Natural Science exam, we have to study Biology, which is too much.

I am also concerned about the admission process. If all schools use the results of the National High School Exam, it will be simple and not much different from previous years. But if universities organize their own exams, then we have to take the exam many times, in many different subjects, which is very tiring.

Class time of 12th grade A1 students, Huynh Thuc Khang High School

Ms. Hoang Thi Tan – Math Teacher, Huynh Thuc Khang High School:I have been in the profession for 17 years and have been teaching math with essay format for a long time, so this change will certainly have its difficulties, especially at a time when time is running out.

Objectively, I think that doing math in the form of multiple choice tests will have advantages such as: students' knowledge will be broader and more agile, and they will develop good thinking.

However, there are also difficulties in changing an ingrained habit. To get good results, we currently have to change the way we teach. In that, we must ensure that we provide enough knowledge for students, and at the same time, we must find ways to innovate and build a question bank so that students can do a variety of exercises. Some content will also be adjusted, such as cutting some types of math problems about urban functions, geometry, etc. The important thing is to create for students quick thinking, the ability to calculate quickly, write quickly, and use the calculator quickly.

In general, I am not too worried about students in the natural sciences because they are quick thinkers. But I am a little worried about students in the D group because they often do their tests in a confident and careful manner. That, if done in only 90 minutes, is too short.

Teacher Nguyen Duy Long, Principal of Dang Thuc Hua High School, Thanh Chuong:The new draft that the Ministry has put forward has many new features and impacts on the psychology of students and parents. The most obvious of which is the testing method. I think that the change from essay to multiple choice will cause a lot of disruption because the thinking of essay and multiple choice are completely different, the learning methods are also different. For students with average academic ability, changing the learning method is not easy.

On the school side, how many schools will use the results of the National High School Exam? If schools organize their own exams and have autonomy, it is not excluded that they will use non-multiple choice methods. Thus, students will have difficulty turning around and will be confused in doing the test, and in reality, the burden of exams will not be reduced.

Instead of taking the exam in essay format, in the new draft, math will be changed to multiple-choice format.

Parent Nguyen Thi Hien - Le Mao Ward (Vinh City):I feel worried that the first two exams, the assessment organization is not complete, still in the process of revision, the Ministry has changed the new plan. This really puts pressure on students, parents and children are very worried when the new school year has just started.

Innovation is a process, so after releasing the draft, the Ministry should collect full opinions and then have a reasonable adjustment roadmap so that schools, parents and students can prepare. It is not good to adjust an important exam frequently, the main purpose is for the benefit of students, not to put students in the experimental stage.

Teacher Cao Thanh Bao - Principal of Huynh Thuc Khang High School:As a leader, I closely follow the innovations in the draft of the 2017 National High School Exam. In my opinion, compared to the two previously organized exams, the innovation has positive aspects, such as the organization will be more compact (one exam cluster, the exam day is shortened from 4 days to 2 days).

Currently, I have also discussed with parents and students and found some concerns such as: the organization of combined exams according to Natural Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) and Social Sciences (History, Geography, Civic Education) is too much according to many people. Besides, many opinions are confused because they do not know how the admission will be organized (by subject combination or by individual subject) and the admission plans of universities next year.

These concerns are understandable because the National High School Exam is an important exam. However, if I read the draft carefully, I think parents and students should not worry too much because these changes are different in form but not in essence.

Moreover, there are many advantages for students because they do not have to extend the exam days. Students taking the A block exam only have to take Biology, students taking the C block exam have to take Civic Education, and in my personal opinion, the Ministry of Education and Training will certainly develop the exam to have reasonable differentiation. If the goal is only to pass the graduation exam, it is not too difficult. But if it is for university admission, according to the Ministry's point of view, only the score is taken based on the exam subject (not the subject group), then the admission process will not change.

What schools and students currently want is for the Ministry to soon announce an official document so that schools can proactively develop plans. In addition, universities should soon announce their enrollment plans to avoid worrying students and soon have sample questions so that students can quickly get used to the new way of making questions.

Assoc. Prof. Le Tien Hung, Former Director of Nghe An Department of Education and Training:This new plan is part of the exam reform roadmap. It is correct in principle and this year the Ministry has implemented it quite early and actively.

Candidates taking the exam at the 2016 National High School Exam

In this spirit, it is recommended that the Department and schools should soon hold conferences and seminars to discuss timely innovation in teaching and learning methods, meeting the spirit of exam innovation (how exams are evaluated will determine the teaching and learning methods in that direction), avoiding passivity.

In addition, the draft only leaves one exam cluster, which is reasonable. However, in my opinion, only the inspection and supervision of the Department of Education and Training is needed. Adding inspection and supervision of universities and colleges is cumbersome and unnecessary.

I also hope that when the Ministry issues regulations, it can research to assign the organization of the examination council to the management staff and teachers in high schools to supervise the students of their schools. If this can be done, it will be less costly, less cumbersome for the state budget, but especially it will ensure more seriousness in the rotation between councils.

However, with a high requirement to promote the responsibility of the principal (chairman of the examination board) and promote democracy in schools for the teaching staff in the school. This form was directed by the Ministry to be implemented in the 80s.

My Ha