Today (June 9th), more than 34,000 students across the province are taking the entrance exam for 10th grade in high schools.

(Baonghean) - The exam will take place over two days, June 9th and 10th; the entrance exam for Phan Boi Chau Specialized High School will be held on June 11th and 12th. The process of delivering and receiving exam papers was ensured to be safe, timely, and without errors. This morning, candidates took the Literature exam (120 minutes), and in the afternoon, they took the English exam (60 minutes)...

To ensure the smooth running of the exam, schools and localities mobilized over 3,000 teachers to serve as invigilators and examiners, and over 1,500 officials, medical personnel, police officers, and militia members to provide security and maintain order at the examination sites. The Department of Education and Training also assigned one inspector to each of the 21 districts, cities, and towns, and organized four additional mobile inspection teams to check and inspect the organization and invigilation of the exam in the localities. In particular, to ensure a serious, safe, and compliant exam, the Department of Education and Training will conduct a post-examination review. Accordingly, after the schools complete their enrollment process, the Department will form an inspection team to check that the enrollment process is correct, targeting the right students and meeting the quotas, and to review the admissions process at the schools.

Candidates taking the 10th grade entrance exam in Dien Chau in 2014.

This year's 10th grade entrance exam is considered highly competitive, especially since the number of applicants is more than 2,000 higher than the target number... The highest competition ratio this year belongs to Huynh Thuc Khang High School (Vinh City) with 1,011 applications, while the school's target is only 560 students (51.38%). This is not unexpected, as for many years Huynh Thuc Khang High School has always been one of the schools with the highest entrance exam scores, and the students applying to the school are usually those with good to excellent academic performance; they consciously review their knowledge early, and yesterday many students came to check their registration numbers, familiarize themselves with the exam rooms, locations, and regulations... but with such a high competition ratio, most students entering the exam room could not help but feel nervous.

Candidate Duong Ngoc Tram, a 9th-grade student from Ha Huy Tap 2 Secondary School, said: “For the past year, we have studied very thoroughly. From May 11th to June 5th, the school also continuously reviewed the three subjects of Literature, Mathematics, and English for 9th-grade students, but I am still very worried because compared to previous years, the percentage of students registering for Huynh Thuc Khang High School is higher.”... Due to the large number of candidates, Huynh Thuc Khang High School this year organized two examination centers at the main school campus and Hermann Gmeiner School with 44 examination rooms. The school assigned 68 teachers from the school along with 33 teachers from VTC High School, Nguyen Truong To High School, and officials from the Vinh Education Department to supervise the exams.

Looking at the enrollment quotas for the 2015 entrance exams, it's easy to see that many schools had significantly higher enrollment rates than their quotas. In Dien Chau, Dien Chau 2 High School had 520 places but received 813 applications (63.96%); Nguyen Xuan On High School had a similar competition rate of approximately 67.53%, and Dien Chau 4 High School had a rate of 72.07%. In Yen Thanh, Bac Yen Thanh High School had the highest competition rate at 68.63%, followed by Phan Dang Luu High School (76.02%) and Nam Yen Thanh High School (78.82%).

In Do Luong, although the competition rate for Do Luong 1 High School is only 81.38%, it is still one of the most difficult schools to get into and has consistently had the highest entrance scores in the province for many years. This also explains why students applying to the school are usually those with good or excellent academic performance, and mainly students from schools with good teaching and learning quality such as Ly Nhat Quang Junior High School, Thi Luu Junior High School, etc. In mid-tier schools, the competition rate is also quite high, such as Do Luong 3 High School at 70.38%, and Do Luong 4 High School at 74.27%.

At Phan Boi Chau Specialized High School, the number of applicants has increased significantly this year. Currently, the school has over 385 places available for 11 specialized classes, but 2,200 application forms have been distributed. The majority of applicants are from high-quality schools such as Dang Thai Mai, Ha Huy Tap, Le Mao (Vinh City), Cao Xuan Huy (Yen Thanh), Ho Xuan Huong (Quynh Luu), Ly Nhat Quang (Do Luong), and Le Hong Phong (Hung Nguyen)... Furthermore, unlike previous years, this year the entrance score for the specialized subject will be weighted by a factor of 3 instead of 2. Regarding this, Mr. Tran Van Nga – the school's Vice Principal – stated: Using the overall results from the 10th grade entrance exam will help the school select students with a strong foundation of knowledge. Increasing the weighting for the specialized subject will help the school identify and recruit students with exceptional talents. This helps the school build a pool of talented students for national, regional, and international competitions.

Candidates can check their registration numbers at Huynh Thuc Khang High School (Vinh City).

This year, the Department of Education and Training has decided to conduct the 10th grade entrance exam using two methods: selection based on application review and examination. Sixty-one schools will hold examinations, while eight schools will use the selection method due to lower-than-expected application numbers compared to their enrollment quotas. These schools are: Tay Hieu High School (Nghia Dan District), Tan Ky 3 High School, Le Loi High School (Tan Ky District), Tuong Duong 2 High School, Anh Son 3 High School, Anh Son 2 High School, Cat Ngan High School, and Thanh Chuong 1 High School (Thanh Chuong District). Two reasons contribute to the low number of applications: firstly, the declining population leading to fewer students, and secondly, the schools' inability to attract students based on quality.

However, among the schools holding entrance exams this year, there is an exception: Thanh Chuong 1 High School. In fact, this school has a long history of achievements and is consistently highly regarded for its teaching and learning quality. In the 2014-2015 school year, the school's entrance exam cutoff score was 31, 14 points higher than the cutoff score of the second-ranked school and 22 points higher than the school with the lowest cutoff score in Thanh Chuong district, placing it among the top schools with the highest cutoff scores in the entire province. Despite its consistently high rating, the school only received 428 applications for the 10th grade entrance exam this year, while its enrollment quota is 440 students.

Explaining this, Principal Le Xuan Huong said: Because of the high admission scores, students are quite hesitant to apply to the school. Furthermore, this year, because the Department of Education has "opened up" the admission process for high schools, allowing them not to accept second-choice applications, many schools in Thanh Chuong district have decided to only accept first-choice applications to ensure a stable enrollment. Therefore, many students with average academic abilities have chosen the "safe" option of applying to lower-ranked schools to secure a place in a public school... Although the selection process is based on academic performance, Principal Le Xuan Huong is not overly concerned about quality because currently over 90% of applications from Ton Quang Phiệt High School (a high-quality secondary school in the district) have been submitted to the school. For the remaining students, the school will consider their overall academic results from the four years of junior high school and will select students from highest to lowest.

The 2015-2016 10th grade entrance exam is also a fierce competition for lower-ranked schools. Currently, across the province, 35 high schools and continuing education centers have no registered candidates, even though their enrollment quota is over 4,500 students. Most of these are semi-public or private schools. Based on the number of candidates this year, after public schools fill their quotas, only 1,531 places remain for all other schools. Therefore, only a few schools will be lucky enough to fill all their places; the rest will face a situation of having no students. Previously, in the 2014-2015 school year, at least two schools had to close because they failed to enroll enough students...

Text and photos:My Ha