More than 85% of schools in Nghe An choose option 2 for the 2025 High School Graduation Exam

According to the plan, from 2025, the first batch of students studying the 2018 General Education Program will take the high school graduation exam. To prepare for this exam, the Ministry of Education and Training has sent a document to schools about the implementation of collecting opinions to choose 1 of 2 options on the number of subjects for the graduation exam from 2025.

Previously, after 2 years of implementing the new General Education Program for high school, organizing teaching and learning in schools encountered many difficulties, especially in guiding students to register for subject combinations, including elective subjects and compulsory subjects.

Recently, schools have been guiding students to choose subject combinations based on their future career aspirations. The subjects students register for are similar to the current traditional block combinations.

In addition, schools are oriented based on the teacher structure of the schools to balance teachers in the classrooms in the subjects.

However, no matter what method is used, this orientation is only relative.

There is this confusion, in addition to objective reasons, the main reason is that the Ministry of Education and Training has not yet developed a plan for graduation exams and university admissions according to the 2018 General Education Program. Therefore, teaching and choosing subjects for students in high schools according to the new program still has many shortcomings.

Currently, the Ministry of Education and Training is developing a plan to organize the exam and is expected to officially announce the plan in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Option 1 includes 4 compulsory subjects: Math, Literature, Foreign Language, History and 2 elective subjects from the chosen subjects.

Option 2 includes 3 compulsory subjects: Math, Literature, Foreign Language and 2 elective subjects from the subjects already studied, including History.

In Nghe An, the consultation was carried out simultaneously at schools through two channels.
Before making a selection plan, the Department also requires schools to organize a Workshop to study the Draft Exam Plan and collect opinions from all managers and teachers (according to the instructions attached to this document). In addition, it is necessary to summarize the number of each group choosing exam subjects; analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each group when organizing exams at their unit.

As a result, the synthesis of the selection from the units sent according to the Department's official dispatch showed that 85.56% of the units chose option 2.

Meanwhile, the synthesis of choices from the Selection Table set up on Google form has 72.89% of teachers' opinions choosing option 2.

Planhigh school graduation examis considered to have a great impact on teaching, learning as well as career orientation of students. Explaining this choice, many school leaders said that choosing option 2 with three compulsory subjects: Literature - Math - English and the remaining 2 subjects are elective subjects is aimed at reducing pressure for exams.

Speaking about this, teacher Tran Dinh Manh - Principal of Tuong Duong 2 High School added: Apart from the History teachers, the rest of us at the school agree that we should only choose 3 compulsory subjects. The school's purpose is to hope that the Ministry will reduce the number of exam subjects to reduce pressure on students.

Regarding the reason for not choosing History, Mr. Manh added: The General Education Program for high school is built according to career orientation. Therefore, if students study History at school, they will have grasped all the necessary knowledge. Otherwise, students should choose their own subjects to suit their future career.

Sharing this view, teacher Cao Thanh Bao - Principal of Ha Huy Tap High School (Vinh City) said: Up to now, despite many changes in the program and textbooks, History has never been a compulsory subject in the 12th grade graduation exam. Therefore, if the new plan does not have compulsory subjects, it is normal and students and teachers at our school all choose this option. Choosing only 3 compulsory subjects will also reduce pressure on students, especially for students who choose natural science or D groups, avoiding having to study too many subjects.

In order to facilitate the organization of the High School Graduation Exam in the coming years, Principal of Ha Huy Tap High School also hopes that the Ministry will consider implementing elective subjects. Because, if with the current plan of having 8 elective subjects, the exam may last for many days, leading to difficulties in organization and being too cumbersome in implementation.

Thus, with this result, many schools expect that the 2025 High School Graduation Exam according to the new Textbook Program will test 5 subjects, of which 3 are compulsory subjects: Math, Literature, Foreign Language and 2 elective subjects from History, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Economic and Legal Education, Information Technology, Technology.

According to the concept of the Ministry of Education and Training, the plan to organize the High School Graduation Exam from 2025 onwards is determined with the purpose of correctly assessing the learning outcomes of learners according to the objectives of the 2018 General Education Program; using exam results to consider recognizing high school graduation and as one of the bases for assessing the quality of teaching and learning of general education institutions and the direction of education management agencies; providing sufficiently reliable data for universities and vocational education institutions to use in enrollment in the spirit of autonomy.

The test content will closely follow the objectives of the 2018 General Education Program, mainly the 12th grade program. The test questions will focus on enhancing competency assessment, in accordance with the regulations and roadmap for implementing the 2018 General Education Program. Regarding the test format, Literature will be tested in essay format; the remaining subjects will be tested in multiple-choice format. The question bank and test questions for all subjects are built with a focus on competency assessment.

Currently, the Ministry of Education and Training is developing a plan to organize the exam and is expected to officially announce the plan in the fourth quarter of 2023./.