Minister of Education and Training talks about high school graduation exam and admission

In the program "People ask - Minister answers" on May 26, Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan answered many questions about issues related to the high school graduation exam and university and college admissions in 2013.

Minister Pham Vu Luan. Photo: VGP/Vu Hiep

Dear Minister, this year is the first year of implementing the regulation allowing candidates to bring recording devices and cameras into the high school graduation exam room. Although the school has organized training, many teachers are still confused. Many teachers are wondering whether the new regulation will help ensure the goal of a serious exam or not?

Minister Pham Vu Luan:We have received feedback on the above concerns. But in fact, the problem is simple, in that we should not raise the issue of having too many complicated devices, but only raise the issue of preventing devices from broadcasting images and sounds directly in the exam room.

However, understanding the concerns and worries of the establishments, the Ministry will provide detailed instructions on this matter in writing. We believe that adding this regulation will increase responsibility and enhance the ability to monitor the forces participating in the exam.

According to the Ministry's statistics, the number of university and college entrance exam applications this year decreased by more than 100,000 applications, equivalent to a decrease of 6% compared to last year, especially the application for the field of Business Administration decreased sharply, up to 10%, the field of Science, Education, Engineering and Technology, Agriculture - Forestry - Fisheries increased. What is the Minister's assessment of this change and what direction does the Minister have to strengthen the connection between training and the needs of society?

Minister Pham Vu Luan:The decrease in applications for economics and business administration is a welcome sign after we warned that the number of graduates in these fields has reached market demand, especially in the context of the global economic downturn and the difficulties of Vietnamese businesses in recent times.

The increase in the number of candidates applying for the agriculture, forestry and fishery, and science and technology majors is also a good sign because basic sciences, engineering, and science and technology majors form the foundation of the economy.

I am just a little concerned that the number of candidates applying for the Education major is still very large. Thank you very much for your love of the Pedagogy major, but to be honest, the number of students graduating from Pedagogical Universities and Colleges in the past few years is quite large and the tolerance of training and educational institutions is also limited.

However, the good news is that students have considered choosing a career based on the needs of society and the developments of the labor market, which is a good development.

Dear Minister, is the education sector ready for the two exams at this point?

Minister Pham Vu Luan:It can be said that at this point, all the preparations are ready. Except for the training, there are still some points that teachers of the general education level are still wondering about because this is the first time implementing the regulations. This will be supplemented and completed by us issuing an official dispatch with instructions in the coming days.

A piece of information that many students and parents are interested in is asking the Minister to "reveal" the direction of the high school graduation exam and university entrance exam this year?

Minister Pham Vu Luan:In general, both exams have questions based on the high school curriculum, mostly on the 12th grade curriculum. The exam questions will be given in a basic way, not challenging students. For social sciences and humanities, the questions will be open-ended and students will not be required to memorize mechanically.

Another requirement of the university entrance exam is that because it has to classify students' levels for selection, there will be more difficult questions.

With only 1 week left until the graduation exam, what does the Minister want to share with students and teachers?

Minister Pham Vu Luan:We want to tell students the first thing is to be calm and confident, study scientifically, moderately, and take care of your health. When doing the test, stay calm, read the questions carefully, do each part with confidence, do the test honestly, face yourself, and overcome yourself.

We hope that teachers, with a sense of responsibility and professional conscience, will fully comply with the regulations, create the best conditions for students to do their homework in a serious and calm environment, and gradually fight against negativity to regain trust, first of all from students, then from parents and society.

I would like to say one last thing, this year, the sector is celebrating the 45th anniversary of the day Uncle Ho wrote his last letter to the education sector. We consider this to be Uncle Ho's personal testament to the education sector. In this letter, Uncle advised the education sector on many things, but one of them is "no matter how difficult it is, we must strive to teach well and study well".

On this occasion, we would like to remind teachers and students nationwide to be determined to carry out Uncle Ho's teachings well, first of all in this graduation and entrance exam period and in the upcoming teaching process.

Thank you very much Minister!

According to (Chinhphu.vn) - LT