Students in Nghe An are confused when registering for 10th grade.
On May 7th, students taking the 10th grade entrance exam began registering online. Although they can register for up to three preferences, many students still feel they don't have many options for getting into public schools.
Not using up all registration rights.
Despite participating in two mock exams and scoring above 24 points each time, student Tran Ha An (9A class) from Nghi Trung Secondary School (Nghi Loc) only registered for one nguyện vọng (preference) at Nguyen Duy Trinh High School.
This candidate said that she also wanted to try her luck at other public schools, but most top schools only accept students based on their first choice, so students don't have many opportunities to choose from.
The public schools that accept second-choice applications are all located in mountainous districts or nearly 60km away from where I live, so even if I get accepted, I won't be able to attend. The fact that I can only register for one public school makes me quite worried, because if I fail, I won't have any other opportunities.
Student Tran Ha An
By the morning of May 7th, most students in class 9A had chosen the schools they intended to apply to. In total, over 90% of students chose Nguyen Duy Trinh High School. A small number of remaining students chose to apply to Nghi Loc 4 High School.
Ms. Hoang Thi Phuong, the class homeroom teacher, said: "Last year, Nguyen Duy Trinh High School had a cutoff score of over 18 points, and Nghi Loc 4 High School had a cutoff score of over 16 points. This is part of the basis for our advice and guidance to students. If a student has weaker academic abilities, we will advise them to choose schools with lower cutoff scores to increase their chances of being admitted to public schools."
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The biggest challenge for students is that currently, very few public schools offer second-choice admissions, so even with three options available, students cannot utilize all of their choices. Another concern is having to compete with students from Vinh City who come to Nghi Loc to take the exam, which could lead to higher cut-off scores.
Teacher Hoang Thi Phuong
Prior to this year's exam season, Ms. Le Thi Thuy Hang, Principal of Nghi Trung Secondary School, acknowledged numerous difficulties. Specifically, this group of students has been significantly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic; for more than a semester of grade 6, they had to study online and were unable to attend extra classes. This is also the first cohort of students to take exams under the 2018 General Education Program, and given the context of schools implementing Circular 29, students did not have as much time for revision as in previous years.
Teacher Le Thi Thuy Hang added: "Last year, our school ranked 26th out of more than 400 junior high schools in the results of the 10th grade entrance exam, with an average student score of over 20 points. But this year, I think it will be difficult to achieve that result. This is the reason why students are hesitant when registering their preferences."10th gradeMany students from our school will take the entrance exam for Nghi Loc 4 High School or choose alternative pathways, instead of attending Nguyen Duy Trinh High School, the top-ranked school in the district.
It's difficult to avoid the problem of "fake" profiles.
At Ha Huy Tap Secondary School (Vinh City), although students were given passwords and had already registered for mock exams a few days ago, many students said this morning they still hadn't finalized their choices. Nguyen Tung Lam, a student in class 9C, said: "I took two mock exams and scored above 23 points both times, so I'm planning to register Huynh Thuc Khang High School as my first choice. I'm not too worried about the remaining choices, because in Vinh City, only private schools offer second and third choices."
This year, Ha Huy Tap Secondary School has 8 classes with 335 students, a significant decrease compared to the previous school year. Although the entrance exam for 10th grade is expected to be less stressful, many students and parents are still interested in registering for the exam.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Lien, the school's Vice Principal, stated: "Each year, approximately 80% of our students pass the entrance exams to public schools. Therefore, when advising students, we require homeroom teachers to understand each student's abilities. In addition, the school has organized two mock exams for 9th-grade students, closely following the sample exam questions and meticulously grading and correcting their work. The results of these exams will be an important basis for students to determine their own abilities and apply to suitable schools."
Because the Nghe An Department of Education continues to allow students to change their preferences after the exam this year, many teachers believe that the initial registration process is only "relatively" accurate and that the number of fraudulent applications is unavoidable.
In fact, in previous years, after the exams, a significant number of students changed their preferences, leading to considerable "inflows and outflows" at various schools.
Given this difficulty, many teachers and students hope that during the two days of changing their preferences, the Department of Education and Training and high schools will publicly disclose the number of students who have adjusted their preferences. This would ensure fairness and objectivity in the admissions process and prevent a mass withdrawal of applications, which could lead to significant disadvantages for some capable students.
