PV:Dear Professor, Dr. Thai Van Thanh, up to now, students across the province have completed their registration for grade 10 admission. As every year, this is still one of the exams that receives the attention of parents and students. And this year, what adjustments has the industry made to help candidates more easily take the exam?
Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh:This year's 10th grade high school entrance exam in Nghe An province has 4 new features. Firstly, the exam time is earlier than the same period in 2022, specifically, the 10th grade high school entrance exam will be on June 5 and 6, 2023; the entrance exam for Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted will be on June 8, 2023.
Second, regarding direct admission, some additional forms will be added. In particular, direct admission based on international English proficiency certificates, in addition to being applied to Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted (2 classes of 70 students), will also be applied to 18 other high schools, namely Huynh Thuc Khang High School, Ha Huy Tap High School, Le Viet Thuat High School, Nguyen Duy Trinh High School, Do Luong High School 1, Quy Hop High School, Le Hong Phong High School, Thai Lao High School, Nam Dan High School 1, Thanh Chuong High School 1, Cua Lo High School, Nguyen Xuan On High School, Dien Chau High School 3, Quynh Luu High School 1, Hoang Mai High School, Thai Hoa High School, Anh Son High School 1, Phan Dang Luu High School with the target of 01 class (42 students) per school.
In addition, students can also enroll in advanced classes based on international English certificates and entrance exam scores for grade 10 high school in the 2023-2024 school year. This year, candidates should also note that direct admission based on international English proficiency certificates will be considered before the entrance exam. Therefore, if a candidate is admitted, they can skip the entrance exam or take the entrance exam to have more options when passing the entrance exam for their desired wish or get points to apply for admission to a specialized school.
The third innovation in this year's exam is that Nghe An for the first time implemented online registration and exam registration. For independent candidates and candidates from other provinces registering for admission in Nghe An province, they can go directly to the high school where they registered to take the exam to submit their application and register for the exam.
The fourth change is that instead of changing their wishes after the schools announce the admission rate, this year candidates will be able to change their wishes after the exam. Accordingly, candidates can change their wishes (NV1, NV2, NV3) for admission to grade 10 of high school after finishing the exam without knowing the exam results. Specifically, the system will be opened for candidates to change their wishes for admission to high schools, Vocational Education - Continuing Education Centers, Continuing Education Centers within 4 days from June 7 to June 10, 2023, so that candidates can change their wishes online but with the approval of the secondary school where the candidate studies.
The amendments and supplements to the 2023 exams (by the Ministry and Department) are aimed at overcoming the shortcomings and limitations of previous exams, ensuring seriousness, fairness, objectivity and the rights of candidates. Therefore, we have requested schools to promptly disseminate the new points in the 2023 exams for students to study and update in order to comply with the regulations.
PV:After many years of implementation, many parents and students believe that the 10th grade entrance exam in Nghe An is considered "tough" and its nature is no different from the university entrance exam. In your opinion, why is that?
Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh:The entrance exam for grade 10 in Nghe An is still the most competitive in Vinh city. This year, the city has 5,490 students taking the entrance exam for grade 10 but only 2,385 are in public schools, an increase of 390 compared to previous years. The rest, in theory, will go to non-public schools.
To reduce the pressure on candidates, the Education sector always strives and has solutions to create conditions for students to study, first of all in public schools. For example, this year, each public school in Vinh city is allowed to enroll 15 classes. However, if last year the number of students per class was 42 students/class, now it has increased to 45 students/class, the maximum increase according to regulations. In addition, as we know, in previous years, the enrollment of advanced classes was only implemented at Huynh Thuc Khang High School (5 classes), but this year the two remaining schools in the city, Ha Huy Tap High School and Le Viet Thuat High School, each school has 2 more advanced classes to create opportunities for students.
PV:As shared above, Vinh city is always considered the most pressured locality in the 10th grade entrance exam. Many parents wonder why, compared to many other localities, the number of students in Vinh city is larger but the number of public schools is smaller. Does that cause students to suffer many disadvantages? In the long term, what solutions has the industry had to solve this difficult problem?
Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh:The Education and Training sector is very concerned about this issue and in recent years has continued to advise the government system and develop the public system. However, in addition to the fact that we only have 3 public schools, students in the city can register for the entrance exam to Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted and Vinh University High School for the Gifted. In fact, in recent years, the number of students in Vinh city studying at these schools accounts for about 60% and the number of students in Vinh city studying at public schools accounts for about 90%. This year, an advantage is that specialized schools in Vinh city are organized with separate exams with two different exam papers. This also meets the wishes and needs of parents and students, parents want to have exams on different days to double their chances of entering specialized schools and this is a legitimate need. Currently, the sector is also advising the Provincial People's Committee to open a second branch of Huynh Thuc Khang High School.
If we compare, we also see that the rate of Vinh city students studying in public schools is the highest in the province. Meanwhile, in district schools, especially in mountainous districts, the rate of public education is only about 70%, many secondary school students have registered to go to vocational school. In non-public classes in Vinh city, the quota is also quite small.
PV:Nghe An is one of the provinces with the highest number of 12th graders registering for the high school graduation exam in the country. In 2023, what adjustments will be made to this exam, sir?
Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh:Similar to the 10th grade entrance exam, this year the 12th grade high school graduation exam will take place earlier than the same period in 2022 and will take place at the end of June, on June 27, 28, 29, and 30, 2023. In areas like Nghe An province, this will help students reduce pressure, avoid having to extend their review time and take the exam during hot weather.
According to the regulations of this year's exam, we also see that the Ministry has made some changes such as amending the regulations on items that candidates are allowed to bring into the exam room. The new regulations have removed the regulation that candidates taking the high school graduation exam are allowed to bring audio and video recorders that only have the function of recording information but cannot listen, watch, and cannot transmit or receive information, audio and visual signals directly without other supporting devices into the exam room; amending the regulations on registration documents for the 2023 high school graduation exam: removing the regulation on a copy of the Permanent Residence Registration Book to enjoy preferential treatment related to the place of permanent residence registration; amending the regulations on priority points in considering recognition of high school graduation in 2023.
This year, the Ministry has also clearly stated the time to announce the exam results as from 8:00 a.m. on July 18, 2023. Meanwhile, in previous years, the announcement time only stated the date and sometimes the results were announced at night, causing pressure and anxiety for parents.
Regarding university and college admissions, this year, according to the plan, the university admissions schedule is about 1 month earlier than in 2022, specifically before 5:00 p.m. on August 14, 2023. In addition, there are changes in priority points. These adjustments aim to ensure fairness and overcome the situation where candidates achieve an admission score of 30 points but are still not admitted to university or college and apply to all admission methods.
Secondly, it is a change in the way of registering for admission. Therefore, candidates only need to register for admission by major, without having to register for the admission method as in 2022. Candidates can be admitted by any method to the major they register for if they meet the requirements.
PV:At this time, Nghe An candidates have completed registration for the 2023 High School Graduation Exam. According to published data, the number of candidates registering for the Social Science subject group has a large difference compared to the Natural Science subject group. Why do you think this is?
Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh:According to the newly compiled data, this year the whole province has 36,945 candidates registered for the exam. Of which, the number of candidates registering for the Social Science subject group (History - Geography - Civic Education) still accounts for a high proportion, with 26,470 candidates (about 71%). Meanwhile, the number of candidates registering for the Natural Science subject group (Physics - Chemistry - Biology) is only 9,718 candidates (accounting for nearly 30%).
In my opinion, this difference is understandable, because of the students' talents, strengths and career orientation. Usually, students choose subjects that are suitable for their abilities, have feasibility, effectiveness and better quality of work.
I also see that students today are very practical because only about 50% go to university. The majority of the rest choose to study abroad, work abroad or go to vocational school. Therefore, the 12th grade graduation exam is no longer too stressful and students will choose subjects that are easy to learn and easy to get high scores.
PV:This year, according to a survey of schools, there are many classes where the percentage of students who do not apply to university can be up to 100%. This shows that there is a change in students' career choices. So what orientations has the education sector had to help schools and students do a good job of career orientation?
Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh:In my opinion, this is a good signal and it is suitable for the socio-economic situation in the context of digital transformation and international integration. In particular, in 2023, Nghe An will be one of the top provinces in the country in attracting investment and large corporations will shift their investment to Vietnam and Nghe An.
With the above trend, career orientation and counseling in schools are also of interest. Accordingly, the Department has directed high schools to connect with businesses and on that basis, students are introduced to careers and career orientation suitable to their talents and strengths.
For students who choose to study a trade, I believe that if they study a trade and have good skills, they will have many career opportunities in the future. Recently, many vocational competitions in the ASEAN region and other countries in the world have been organized, with values equivalent to other competitions of international standards, and that will encourage vocational study. In addition, if there is a need to develop skills, students also have many study programs to improve their qualifications to college and university.
PV:Thank you Professor Thai Van Thanh!