Nghe An: The arduous 'race' to get into public high schools.

The race among top schools is intense.

Two weeks before the official entrance exam for 10th grade in the 2021-2022 school year, the Department of Education and Training announced the pass rate for 10th grade admission to public high schools in the province.

Nguyen Nguyen, a 9th-grade student from Hung Dung Secondary School (Vinh City), said: “I have a good academic record and have registered Huynh Thuc Khang High School as my first choice. However, after learning that the competition ratio for admission this year is nearly 2 places for 1, I am quite worried because most of the students applying to the school have good academic records and their exam scores will certainly be very high.”

Candidates participating in the 2020 entrance exam for 10th grade. Photo: Duc Anh

Not only Huynh Thuc Khang High School, but the other two schools in Vinh City, Ha Huy Tap High School and Le Viet Thuat High School, also have the highest competition rates in the province, with admission rates ranging from 68% to 70%.

The low acceptance rates at these schools are not unexpected, because Vinh City has a very large number of 9th-grade students, while the entire city only has 3 public high schools, in addition to 2 specialized high schools: Phan Boi Chau Specialized High School and Vinh University Specialized High School. This makes the competition for 10th grade in Vinh City more intense than in other localities, and the number of students admitted to public schools is not high.

Checking the application files of candidates taking the 10th grade entrance exam at Bac Yen Thanh High School. Photo: MH

In Yen Thanh district, among the 6 public high schools in the area, Bac Yen Thanh High School has the highest competition ratio (70%), even higher than Phan Dang Luu High School - which is considered one of the top schools in the province. With a large number of applicants (841) but only 588 available slots, the school did not accept second-choice applications this year, prioritizing only those who applied to the school.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Thuy, Principal of Bac Yen Thanh High School, said: “For many years, the number of applications to the school has been quite high, but this year has the highest number of applications ever. This is partly due to the school's wide catchment area, but it also confirms the quality of education provided by the school. However, although the chances of admission are quite low, students still have many opportunities to be admitted to other public high schools near the area through their second choice.”

Dien Chau District also has a large number of 9th-grade students. Therefore, even though there are 5 public high schools in the district, the admission rate this year remains very low. Specifically, schools like Nguyen Xuan On High School and Dien Chau 3 High School have admission rates of only 67-71%, while Dien Chau 4 High School and Dien Chau 5 High School, although somewhat less competitive, still only have rates of 83-84%.

“The school is very pleased that this year the number of applications is quite large, and we hope to recruit truly high-quality students. In fact, after reviewing the applications, we see that many students have achieved excellent student awards at the district and provincial levels, and many students have good academic records. With the current quality of applicants, the admission cutoff score will not be lower than last year…” Last school year, Dien Chau 3 High School also had the highest admission cutoff score in Dien Chau district with a score of 22.4.

Mr. Phan Trong Dong - Principal of Dien Chau 3 High School

There aren't many opportunities to change your preferences.

To facilitate candidates in this year's 10th grade entrance exam, the Department of Education and Training has allowed candidates to change their first (NV1), second (NV2), and third (NV3) choices immediately after schools announce the admission rates. Previously, allowing each candidate to register for three choices was also considered a favorable condition for candidates during the 10th grade registration process.

Dien Chau 3 High School reviews the application files of candidates taking the 10th grade entrance exam. Photo: MH

In theory, with the "open" mechanism, candidates would have many opportunities to choose from, but in reality, the selection process remains difficult because very few schools allow candidates to register for their second and third choices. Explaining this, the Principal of Dien Chau 3 High School said: "In recent years, the school's admission scores have been quite high. Therefore, if the school were to accept 10% of candidates for their second and third choices, their admission scores would be very low, even lower than the scores of candidates who took the entrance exam. Therefore, we have to prioritize admitting candidates with higher scores."

Prioritizing quality is also the reason why many schools do not recruit students for the second or third choice (NV2 or NV3). A few other schools (a small number) also have their own reasons. Regarding the decision to recruit for NV2, Mr. Le Khac Thuc, Principal of Tan Ky High School, said: “Compared to other schools in the area, the quality of our students is quite high. However, in recent years, the number of applicants has been small, resulting in a low competition rate and a situation where some students have very high scores while others have very low admission scores, such as 11 points last year. Therefore, if we recruit for NV2, we will have the opportunity to select students with higher scores from other schools to improve the quality of our school's incoming students.”

On another note, the reason universities do not accept second and third-choice applications is to ensure they meet their enrollment targets, especially in universities where the number of applicants does not exceed the assigned enrollment quota.

Even this year, alongside schools with very difficult admission rates, there are still schools with relatively easy admission chances, with rates above 90%.

These schools include: Nghi Loc 2 High School with 387 places/409 candidates (95% rate), Nam Dan 2 High School (420/425, 99% rate), Thanh Chuong 1 High School (96% rate), Dang Thai Mai High School (98% rate), Anh Son 3 High School, Tan Ky 3 High School, Yen Thanh 2 High School (99% rate), and Co Do High School (99.5% rate). With the number of registered candidates close to the predicted enrollment quota, many schools will have to "scramble" for the last remaining candidates, making it difficult to guarantee the quality of incoming students. This also inevitably leads to the situation where some candidates with only 2-3 points per subject are admitted.

This year's 10th grade entrance exam will consist of three subjects: Mathematics, Literature, and Foreign Language. Photo: Duc Anh

So, with those numbers...Department of Education and TrainingRegarding the admission rates for 10th grade in public high schools across the province this year, the exam still clearly divides schools into two distinct groups: top-tier, central schools and lower-tier schools. The race to get in...10th gradeTherefore, it will be even more difficult for localities with a large number of applicants but limited enrollment quotas. Many parents and candidates have affirmed that the entrance exam for public high schools is even more challenging than the entrance exam for universities.

The fact that many public schools have few applicants and are expected to have to recruit until the last candidates is causing difficulties for many private schools and vocational training centers in enrolling students at the beginning of the school year. Meanwhile, the current trend among many families is to send their children to vocational school or to work immediately after graduating from junior high school.