10th grade entrance exam results in Nghe An: 'Alarming' regional differences
(Baonghean) - The 10th grade entrance exam is an important basis for evaluating the learning outcomes of secondary school students. In 2019, besides the joy, there are still concerns about the quality of admission, the gap between regions and areas is quite different.
The numbers are alarming.
Up to now, the enrollment work at Ky Son High School, Ky Son district has not been completed when only 581 students have enrolled.
We are short of 9 students, but because the recruitment source is not enough (due to candidates dropping out of the exam and about 55 students transferring to take the exam at the province's Ethnic Minority Boarding School), we have to recruit the last candidate, as long as he or she does not get a score of 0."
 |
| Candidates taking the 10th grade entrance exam. Photo: My Ha |
According to the announced exam scores, a candidate only needs 4.9 points to be admitted to Ky Son High School, if calculated on average for 5 subjects, it is less than 1 point/subject. This is also the lowest floor score among all high schools in the province.
Through analyzing the test results data, among nearly 600 candidates who registered to take the school entrance exam this year, the candidate with the highest score was 34.1 points, however, the number of candidates with low scores was very large. Specifically, if the test score was calculated below 3 points, there were 211 candidates. The average score of the candidates was 2.42 points and the lowest was 1.72 points in Math.
“Compared to other localities, the input quality of Ky Son district is quite low because the students here are ethnic minorities, and the conditions for care and learning for them are not as good as in other favorable areas. This is also a difficulty for the school in the new school year, so every year after enrollment, the school has to open a separate class to provide free tutoring for weak students so that they can keep up with the high school program.”
 |
| Vinh City Youth Volunteers support candidates at a school. Photo: My Ha |
“This year, the school has 210 quotas and so far 202 candidates have enrolled. This is “unprecedented” because up to now, during the enrollment season, teachers usually have to go directly to the commune to encourage students to go to school. The exam scores are also higher than previous years, although the average score is less than 1.5 points/subject.”
With many years of experience in admissions, Mr. Manh believes that, of the 5 subjects in the 10th grade entrance exam, Foreign Language is the most worrying subject, followed by Math.
The main reason is that most students here are very weak in English and the teaching and learning conditions in schools do not meet the standards set by the industry, especially the teaching staff. Students are also using the language of ethnic minorities, so their listening, speaking and writing skills are not good, making it difficult to absorb other subjects.
Currently, according to statistics, the average score of Tuong Duong district is ranked 19th in the whole province and Math is the subject with the lowest average score (2.12 points).
 |
| Parents and candidates view the 10th grade exam results at Thai Hoa High School. Photo courtesy of My Ha |
At Anh Son 2 High School, there were also more than 100 Math exams with scores below 3 points (accounting for nearly 1/3 of the participating candidates). Or at Dang Thuc Hua High School (Thanh Chuong), although it is in a favorable area and the quality is considered quite good, there were more than 130 candidates with 1 out of 3 subjects with scores below 3 points.
Statistics from the Department of Education and Training also show that the average score this year for all subjects is 4.64 points. The highest score is Literature (4.91 points), followed by Combined Subjects (4.66 points) and Mathematics (4.36 points). In addition, the gap between regions is quite large.
For example, in Vinh city (the unit with the highest average score), the average score of 3 subjects is 6.55 points. Meanwhile, in Ky Son (the unit with the lowest exam score), the average score is only 2.42 points.
“In the exam subjects, the Combined subject is quite good but still depends a lot on the exam scores of the two subjects History and Chemistry. The remaining subject of English is still quite low. This has many different reasons, such as Nghe An is large, there are many students in mountainous areas so the quality of English teaching is not uniform. However, looking at the general level, this is also a very important issue to find a solution to overcome”.
Continue to innovate the exam
The 10th grade entrance exam is considered an important basis for assessing the quality of teaching and learning in high schools and this is also a very stressful exam, especially in central and favorable areas.
 |
| The 2019 grade 10 exam in Vinh City has 3 exam councils: Huynh Thuc Khang High School, Le Viet Thuat High School and Ha Huy Tap High School. Illustrative photo |
In fact, over the past 2 years, the exam has also been innovated with the aim of improving the quality of teaching and learning in schools, such as increasing the number of subjects from 3 to 5, allowing ethnic minority boarding schools to organize entrance exams instead of selecting candidates as in previous years. In particular, while previously, the Department of Education and Training allowed schools in mountainous areas to directly recruit candidates, in the past 2 years, all schools have had to take entrance exams to improve the quality of general education.
“Organizing the entrance exam is very convenient for the school in the teaching and learning process later on and avoids the situation of “subjectivity” among students. In fact, in previous years, after being directly admitted, many candidates had average or weak academic performance and the school had to work very hard to provide extra training and tutoring for students.
The entrance exam is also a “channel” to evaluate schools and the quality of teaching and learning, because in recent years, there have been schools where the number of candidates registering for the exam for many consecutive years is always lower than the approved quota. That, invisibly, makes students neglect their studies and schools also face difficulties when they cannot enroll quality students.
 |
| Candidates arrive to enroll at Huynh Thuc Khang High School - Vinh City. Photo: My Ha |
This year, the school's competition ratio is 1/3 of the candidates, a fairly high competition ratio. Direct recruitment of candidates has improved the school's recruitment quality. In the area with the lowest score, Que Phong, candidates must score 24 points to be admitted. In districts like Nghia Dan, the entrance score is 30 points, almost equal to the top schools in the whole province."
With the results achieved, Mr. Thai Van Thanh - Director of the Department of Education and Training also affirmed: "In the coming years, the entrance exam for grade 10 will have innovations to not create too much pressure for students but still maintain the quality of mass education in general schools. In the immediate future, in the next school year, the Department will adjust the Combined exam to reduce the number of subjects but still facilitate the assessment of students and enrollment of schools".
