Changing preferences for 10th grade: A 'test' to assess student quality?

The competition ratio is not inversely proportional to the quality.

Four hours before the Department of Education and Training announced the results of the 10th grade entrance exam, Mr. Luu Cong Linh, the principal of Thai Hoa High School, sent his congratulations to the students and parents who registered to take the exam at the school. This was quite unexpected, as previous predictions had suggested an increase in the number of candidates, a high competition rate, and more difficult exam questions than in previous years.

During the recent 10th grade entrance exam, after 5 days of changing preferences, the number of applications received at Thai Hoa High School fluctuated significantly: from an initial 511 applications, the school was left with only 481 applications at the last minute.

According to teacher Luu Cong Linh, although the acceptance rate may reach over 90%, the school's quality remains assured: After the results are announced, it is predicted that about 15-20 students will fail, and the cutoff score will range from 15.9 to 16 points. This score is about 1 point lower than last year, but it still ensures the quality and accurately reflects this year's exam. Most of the students who remain and do not change their preferences are those who are confident in themselves.

At Thanh Chuong 1 High School, before the 10th grade entrance exam, the school had 643 applications. With an enrollment quota of 495 students, the initial acceptance rate was 76%. However, after the change of preferences, the school now only has 514 applications remaining, and the acceptance rate is over 96%.

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"Although the number of applicants has decreased, the cutoff score for admission to the school has still increased, projected at 16.75 points, more than 2 points higher than in previous years. In my opinion, this is normal, because the students who remain are those with real abilities and they deserve to be admitted. In the future, if students transfer to specialized schools, the cutoff score is expected to decrease, but not significantly."

The school's stance is that even with a high acceptance rate, the admission criteria must still ensure a quality standard. If a student's score is too low, they will have many other options.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tien - Principal of Thanh Chuong 1 High School

The gates of public schools are "narrow" for many candidates.

The decision by the Department of Education and Training to allow candidates taking the 10th grade entrance exam to change their preferences has received much attention from parents and students.

After the change in preferences, quite a few surprises occurred, with the number of applicants to top-tier schools in many localities dropping significantly, and some schools even facing the risk of not meeting their enrollment targets.

Conversely, schools located far from the city center, and those that previously had low admission standards, have seen a surge in the number of students transferring to them.

Currently, there are no official cutoff scores, but after the Department of Education and Training announced the results of the 10th grade entrance exam, many parents in Nam Dan district have become genuinely worried.

The risk of failing to get into a public high school for 10th grade is entirely possible, especially for students applying to Nam Dan 2 High School and Kim Lien High School.

Previously, in earlier exam seasons, admission to these schools was quite easy, with admission scores ranging from only 10 to 13 points. Part of the reason is that these schools have a limited pool of applicants; in some years, the admission rate has exceeded 90%.

Just before this year's exam season, with only two days left until the application deadline, the Principal of Kim Lien High School publicly posted on the school's website the number of applications received and expressed hope to recruit more students.

Mr. Duong Son, Principal of Kim Lien High School, said: "When the number of applications increases rapidly, it will certainly make it more difficult for candidates to get admitted. We expect the cutoff score for our school this year to be 16.5, nearly 3 points higher than in previous years, even though this year's exam was more difficult."

A similar situation is occurring at Nam Dan 2 High School. The disadvantage for local students is even greater because the school's enrollment area has traditionally been in the communes of Nam Kim, Trung Phuc Cuong, and Khanh Son; the academic level of students there is generally lower than the rest of the district. Previously, with admission scores fluctuating below 12 points/3 subjects, the rate of admission to public schools here was very high. However, this is unlikely to happen this school year.

At Trung Phuc Cuong 1 Secondary School, after receiving the exam results, Mr. Nguyen Van Tan, the school principal, said: "This year, the school has 83 students registered to take the entrance exam for grade 10, mainly from Nam Dan 2 High School. With the current scores, we are concerned that about 20 students will fail to get into public schools."

Looking at the current results, teacher Nguyen Van Tan also acknowledges that the students born in 2009 in the southern region of Nam Dan are truly facing difficulties. However, besides objective reasons, schools also need to adapt, and parents and students need to accept the reality in order to improve.

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For a long time, many people have said that the South 5 region is a low-quality area with poor academic performance, resulting in low admission scores. This is also the reason why students from other regions transfer there, competing with students from within the region.

Therefore, after this year's exam season, we must reflect on ourselves, analyze the causes, and change our teaching and learning methods, using quality as the basis for evaluating learning. Once the quality of students in our region improves, students from other regions will be more hesitant to come to our area to take exams.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tan - Principal of Trung Phuc Cuong 1 Secondary School

Based on the situation in Nam Dan district and some neighboring localities of Vinh city, many opinions have also expressed concern that the Department of Education and Training allowing candidates to adjust their preferences could lead to unpredictable changes in the admissions process. To objectively assess this issue, analysis, evaluation, and lessons learned are necessary.

However, this change has provided a fairly comprehensive picture of the quality of candidates and the quality of teaching and learning. And when regional advantages are no longer a factor in admissions, and registration for the entrance exam is no longer limited, junior high schools also need to change their teaching and learning methods, student assessment methods, and focus on substantive teaching that ensures successful outcomes. Only then will the competition for admission to grade 10 be truly fair, and the quality of students throughout the province will be improved.