Nghe An students urgently review for 10th grade exam in anxiety

Ho Sy Dung - class 9A - Hung Dung Secondary School - Vinh City

With just over a month left until the 10th grade entrance exam for the 2019-2020 school year, I feel worried. Like Literature, in previous years the review questions were limited to only 1 semester, but this year it is limited to both semesters, so the amount of knowledge to review is greater.

As for History, due to the large amount of knowledge (grades 6 to 9) and many time points to remember, I feel pressured. Besides, I am weak in Chemistry so I have to practice more.

To prepare for the exam, in addition to studying at school, my schedule is full all week, from Monday to Sunday with 12 review sessions for 5 subjects: Math, Literature, History, Foreign Language, Chemistry. Every day, I wake up at 6am to go to school, take extra classes, do homework until about 11:30pm before going to bed. But up to now, I think I only got about 7/10 points.

Teacher Le Thi Ngoc Anh - English Teacher - Hung Dung Secondary School - Vinh City

This is the second year Nghe An has applied the combined test for the 10th grade entrance exam. As an English teacher, I see that the sample test given by the Department of Education and Training for the 2019-2020 school year has not changed compared to the 2018-2019 school year.

According to the results of the students participating in the 2018-2019 entrance exam, they all did well in the English test.

However, in my personal opinion, I think that the combined exam with 5 subjects including Math, Literature, Foreign Language, History and Chemistry is creating a burden, making students feel pressured. Of course, there will be people who think that "only 20 English multiple choice questions, 15 History multiple choice questions or 15 Chemistry multiple choice questions is not too difficult"... But it must also be understood that in order for students to do 20 English multiple choice questions, 15 History multiple choice questions or 15 Chemistry multiple choice questions, they must learn, grasp and review all the knowledge from grade 6 to grade 9. Obviously, this is a pressure, students have to study too many subjects..

For teachers, in previous years, schools spent 16 sessions reviewing for students. Since the application of the combined test for the 10th grade entrance exam, the review time has been reduced to only 8 review sessions. It is worth noting that although the number of review sessions has been reduced by half, the amount of knowledge to review has not changed. Teachers still have to review knowledge from grades 6 to 9 for students. This also puts a lot of pressure on teachers to convey complete knowledge to students in 8 sessions instead of 16 sessions as before.

Teacher Tran Thi Ha - Chemistry Teacher - Ly Nhat Quang Secondary School - Do Luong

Although it was not until early April that the Department of Education and Training announced the third subject in the Combined exam, in our school, Chemistry has been a focus since the beginning of the school year and students have not been too passive.

The Department has also announced the structure and sample test questions, and I find the questions quite close to the program. However, to do well on this test, students cannot memorize but must grasp a broad level of knowledge because Chemistry knowledge is interconnected and not independent.

I also know that many students only focus on studying after the exam is announced, but in my opinion, 2 months of study time is not enough.

To study Chemistry well, you must have a solid grasp of the knowledge, identify the properties of each group, prioritize which content to remember first, and underline each problem.

In addition, students also need to observe experiments, phenomena in nature, in life... because Chemistry theory is very close to reality. And in the sample exam, there are also many application questions.

Teacher Bang Thi Thuy Ha-History Teacher - Vice Principal of Ha Huy Tap Secondary School-Vinh city

After the Department of Education and Training issued the structure and sample test questions, we were less worried because they were close to the program and had all four levels of recognition, understanding, application and high application. In particular, compared to the textbook program, the Department has also reduced a lot of content.

For example, the World History section reduces the Western Europe section, the Science and Technology section, and the summary topic. The Vietnamese History section reduces the period from 1919 to 1930, reduces the post-August Revolution to the national resistance war, and reduces the period from 1975 to the present.

However, although the History sample test only has 15 questions, the knowledge is quite broad. For example, with the topic of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the test only has 2 comprehension questions.

In order for students to do well on the test, teachers are required to build a whole system of questions that cover all the questions related to this topic, and that is quite a difficult task.

I also think this is a decisive factor in the quality of students' work. Because, with the sample test, students only need to do multiple choice questions. Therefore, if teachers can systematize all the questions, students can review carefully and identify the questions, they will do quite well on the test.

In our school, good students can do 70-80%. Weaker students can do 60% or more. After a while, if they study more carefully, their results will definitely be better.

My Ha - Chu Thanh