The 4-subject graduation exam plan will reduce pressure on students.
(Baonghean.vn) - The 2018 General Education Program has been implemented for more than 2 years, but the choice of the high school graduation exam in 2025 is still being considered. Most recently, the Ministry of Education and Training continued to propose a 4-subject exam plan and received quite a lot of consensus.
Reduce pressure on students
In 2025, the first batch of 12th graders studying under the 2018 General Education Program will officially take the High School Graduation Exam. For a long time, the exam has been organized in 6 subjects, including 3 compulsory subjects: Math - Literature - Foreign Language and a combination of integrated subjects of Social Sciences (History - Geography - Civic Education), or a combination of integrated subjects of Natural Sciences (Physics - Chemistry - Biology).
According to the latest plan ofMinistry of Education and TrainingInstead of taking 6 subjects, students taking the 2025 High School Graduation Exam will only take 4 subjects, including 2 compulsory subjects: Math - Literature and 2 elective subjects out of 9 elective subjects they are studying (Foreign Language, History, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Economic and Legal Education, Information Technology, Technology).
According to the Ministry of Education and Training, with this option, candidates will have 36 ways to choose and avoid the current imbalance of choosing social sciences over natural sciences.
Before proposing the 4-subject plan, the Ministry of Education and Training also proposed the 6-subject exam plan (including 4 compulsory subjects and 2 elective subjects), the 5-subject exam plan (3 compulsory subjects and 2 elective subjects) and the whole Nghe An province through collecting opinions, more than 85% of units chose option 2 with the main purpose of reducing pressure on students. Up to now, with the 4-subject exam plan, it has received more consensus and support.
Teacher Nguyen Minh Chien - Homeroom teacher of class 10C1, Kim Lien High School (Nam Dan) said: "Personally, I agree with the 4-subject exam plan, because this is reasonable to reduce exam time, reduce the number of subjects for students and reduce costs in the exam organization process."
Teacher Tran Van Trung - Principal of Do Luong 2 High School also expressed his agreement, saying that this would create a light exam without pressure for students and the school.
“The current graduation exam has a passing rate of over 95%, so we should not organize an exam that is too stressful. If the graduation rate is high, students can easily find other job opportunities after graduation. Besides, if any student is really capable, they will choose the subjects to be able to apply for university admission or choose the ability assessment exam,” Mr. Trung affirmed.
According to the plan of the Ministry of Education and Training, with the 4-subject exam plan, the high school graduation exam will only be held in 1.5 days, 1 day less than at present, the budget savings for each exam session will also be up to hundreds of billions of VND. Organizing the exam according to this plan aims to properly assess the learning results of the selected candidates according to the goals of the 2018 General Education Program; using the exam results to consider recognizing high school graduation and as one of the bases to assess the quality of teaching and learning of general education institutions, providing reliable data for universities and vocational education institutions to enroll students in the spirit of autonomy.
The Ministry's policy is that the exam will be conducted in the direction of enhancing capacity assessment, in accordance with the regulations and roadmap for implementing the 2018 General Education Program. Currently, the options are being considered and opinions are being collected before the Ministry of Education and Training submits the final option to the Government.
Concerns
However, organizing an exam with 4 subjects, in which Foreign Language is no longer a compulsory subject, is also causing concern for many teachers.
Ms. Bui Thi My Hao - English teacher at Do Luong 2 High School shared: "Organizing 4 exams is quite suitable, because the current trend of graduation is almost universal and helps reduce the load on the exam. However, with this plan, I think the trend of students will choose exams that are easy to get points and English is no longer the choice of many candidates".
According to teacher Hao, if there is no English exam, students will also neglect this subject. Therefore, she hopes that schools need to have their own regulations to evaluate the quality of students, including criteria for English. That will help students study all subjects equally and keep up with the integration trend.
Sharing the same view, teacher Nguyen Thi Thuy - Vice Principal of Thanh Chuong 3 High School said: "Although English is one of the difficult subjects, the entrance exam scores and graduation exam scores are not high, this is a necessary subject. Currently, in schools, the teaching and learning of English has had positive changes, so I am worried that when English is no longer compulsory, students will "turn their backs" on this subject." Before the graduation exam plans, many teachers said that the Ministry should soon issue a university admission plan to avoid affecting teaching and learning in schools.
In a disadvantaged school like Do Luong 2 High School, teacher Tran Van Trung - Principal of the school said: "The current trend is that schools mainly take university admission results from competency assessment exams with many comprehensive subjects. Therefore, at present, in schools, when teaching according to the new program, we not only care about the high school graduation exam but also have to change teaching methods so that students can participate in the competency assessment exam smoothly. To do so, it is clear that students do not only study 4 subjects but also have to study many subjects to be able to do a competency assessment exam completely."
Besides, many opinions say that the Ministry of Education and Training needs to have a suitable university entrance exam plan for all students and all regions:
“Current university admission methods are not optimal. For example, the competency assessment exam is a separate exam for universities, so its reliability and accuracy may be unclear. Teachers in high schools themselves also have difficulty accessing the questions and materials of this exam. Not to mention, this is a rather expensive exam, students have to study too many subjects and they are under a lot of pressure.
Therefore, I hope there will be a light high school graduation exam with 4 subjects and the Ministry of Education and Training should have a separate exam for university admission like before. At that time, any student who has the need and desire to go to university will register to take a separate, fair and objective exam, instead of having to attend several capacity assessment exams a year...”.
