Grouping students for effective revision.

(Baonghean) - Although the national high school graduation exam is still more than three months away, the preparation atmosphere in schools is already extremely urgent. The most important aspect remains consolidating knowledge and training students in exam-taking skills...

This year, Tuong Duong 1 High School (Tuong Duong) has 285 12th-grade students participating in the national high school graduation exam. However, only 179 of them registered for university and college admissions, while the remaining 106 only took the exam to obtain their graduation certificate. Furthermore, the number of students registering for elective subjects also varied, with Chemistry and Biology being the most popular (approximately 70%). Only 18 students registered for Physics, 15 for Geography, and the fewest for History, with only 4 students registering. According to initial surveys, Principal Bui Duc Thien believes that these figures accurately reflect the current academic performance of the school's students. Those who did not register for universities and colleges are generally those with lower entry-level abilities and average academic performance. These students themselves have decided that after graduating from high school, they will pursue vocational training and find a job that suits their abilities.

A review session for students at Dien Chau Continuing Education Center.

From the beginning of the second semester, the school has directed subject teachers to assess each student's abilities to organize targeted review sessions, ensuring that students master the knowledge and skills of the curriculum to meet the requirements of understanding, knowing, and applying. In addition, the school has instructed homeroom teachers to proactively coordinate with subject teachers teaching subjects included in the graduation exam to arrange reasonable time for effective review, and to encourage high-achieving students to help weaker students grasp the basic knowledge and skills required by the exam. Currently, in addition to morning classes, the school will organize three afternoon review sessions per week for 12th-grade students. Simultaneously, the school has committed to "ensuring that all subjects students register for the graduation exam are covered in review sessions."

The school has also developed a plan to organize intensive review sessions for students until the end of June, to avoid a situation where students finish the curriculum and then go home without taking the graduation exam. Based on attendance records from the beginning of the year, the 12th-grade students have been more diligent in their studies (only 2 students dropped out in the first semester), and the overall quality is generally consistent, so the school is quite confident in this year's exam results. Currently, the Ministry of Education and Training has not yet released the exam structure, so teachers are facing many difficulties in guiding appropriate review sessions. Ms. Nguyen Thi Nam, a Literature teacher, shared: “Since the Ministry of Education and Training announced the policy of implementing a unified exam, I have been updating information online every day so that I can inform students of any new developments. Basically, the students have grasped the spirit of the exam and are reviewing very seriously. Some difficult topics that we recently learned through training programs on developing students' competencies have also been applied to help students gradually become familiar with the new learning methods and exam formats. Hopefully, when the exam structure is released, the Ministry will divide it into specific sections to make it easier to differentiate students…”

The most significant change in this year's exam is for the Continuing Education system, because from now on, students will take the same exam as high school students, instead of separate exams as in previous graduation exams. Mr. Phan Lam Giang, Director of the Continuing Education Center of Dien Chau District, said: Currently, up to 90% of the center's students are only taking the exam to obtain a graduation certificate, so the school has decided not to review overly difficult content, but to focus on reviewing the basic curriculum to help students achieve the required passing score. At the same time, we are increasing afternoon classes to provide extra tutoring, combining self-study and review with assessments from students; combining tests with self-assessment, group assessments, and subject teacher assessments. In addition, the school has instructed teachers to teach all subjects equally, including those not included in the graduation exam (in this exam, academic transcript scores account for up to 50% of the graduation assessment).

A one-hour review session for 12B students at Tuong Duong High School.

According to the Department of Education and Training's summary, as of now, 32,992 students in the province have registered to take the 2015 National High School Graduation Examination. Of these, only about 65% will use their results to apply to universities and colleges, while the remaining 35% (11,555 candidates) will only take the exam to obtain their graduation certificate. It is also noteworthy that this year, not only are there many students in mountainous districts not applying to universities (Kỳ Sơn 66%, Quỳ Châu 65%, Tương Dương 54.58%), but the disparity among students in lowland districts is also quite clear. For example, in Yên Thành district, 40% of students registered only to take the exam to obtain their graduation certificate, Nam Đàn 40%, Cửa Lò 45%, and Vinh City 12%. With these results, organizing separate examination centers is certainly necessary. According to the Department of Education and Training's plan, to ensure convenience for candidates, the Department intends to establish 24 separate examination centers in all 21 districts, cities, and towns. Some districts with a large number of candidates will establish two centers, such as Quynh Luu, Nghi Loc, and Dien Chau.

Regarding exam preparation, after the Ministry of Education and Training issued the Regulations and Guidelines on the National High School Graduation Examination, the Department of Education and Training sent a professional guidance document to all schools. This document required high school principals to organize training for staff, teachers, and 12th-grade students on the National High School Graduation Examination Regulations and to disseminate relevant documents and guidelines from the education sector. Furthermore, it emphasized the importance of teaching the full curriculum, ensuring the achievement of knowledge and skills standards, and focusing on developing students' competencies. Absolutely no cutting short the curriculum or teaching content was permitted. The regulations on student assessment, evaluation, and grading were strictly implemented. Exam preparation must be within the current high school curriculum, focusing primarily on the 12th-grade curriculum to help students master the knowledge and skills required to understand and apply them. Students were also guided on exam-taking skills specific to each subject.

Mr. Thai Huy Vinh, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training, said: Teachers and students should not worry too much because the Ministry will soon release sample exam questions and exam structure to help students familiarize themselves with the exam structure. The Ministry's policy is that the exam will be differentiated from basic to advanced levels to classify candidates' abilities. The exam will be based on the high school curriculum, mainly grade 12. The exam will have two groups of questions: one group equivalent to the high school graduation exam, ensuring that even average students can answer the questions and pass the graduation exam; the second group will be similar to the university/college entrance exam. The exam format is similar to 2014, and students can refer to previous years' high school graduation and university/college entrance exams for preparation. Regarding exam preparation materials, in reality, the Ministry of Education and Training has not published any exam preparation materials for the national high school graduation exam and there are no regulations requiring teachers or students to use any specific reference materials. It is important for students to thoroughly understand the content in the textbooks and to grasp the lessons taught by their teachers in class.

My Ha