When will the 10th grade entrance exam be less stressful?
(Baonghean.vn) - Up to this point, many public schools in the province have announced the benchmark scores for grade 10. In addition to the high benchmark scores, there is also a large difference in benchmark scores between schools, causing many parents and students to worry.
Benchmarks Soar
25.35 points is the first benchmark score just announced by Huynh Thuc Khang High School (Vinh City). This is the school's highest benchmark score in the past 10 years, when the average score for admission is 8.45 points/subject. This is also a score close to the benchmark scores of top schools in Hanoi.
Receiving the benchmark score of 25.35 points, Mr. Le Van Quynh's family (Vinh City) was restless. Nearly a month ago, when receiving the test results of his child with a total score of 25.0, his family was happy, because this score was nearly 2 points higher than the benchmark score last year and the chance of admission was very high. However, up to this point, the biggest wish of his family is that the school will... lower the benchmark score!
Mr. Quynh shared: I have never seen this year.Examadmission to grade 10It is tense and goes through many emotions like this year; and at every milestone, students and parents have to consider very carefully. For our family, when the child came back from the exam, he was confident that he did well on the test, so the family decided not to change his wishes. But then, when the Department of Education and Training announced the benchmark scores, the family was really worried because this year's exam scores were very high. Not to mention, the number of students who went and came after changing their wishes from the schools was not announced, so the calculation was very difficult and only depended on luck.
Up to this point, about 50% of public schools across the province have simultaneously increased their benchmark scores compared to the 10th grade entrance exam last school year. There are even schools with benchmark scores that have increased dramatically, making many students worried. At Thai Lao High School (Hung Nguyen), if in 2022 the benchmark score to enter the school was only 13.65 points, this year it increased to 19.35 points; Dien Chau 3 High School, the benchmark score just announced is 17.70 points, an increase of 3.4 points compared to 2022; Cua Lo High School's benchmark score this year is 20.75 points, an increase of 5.6 points; Cua Lo 2 High School is 15.75 points, an increase of more than 2 points; The admission score for Do Luong 1 High School is 19.70 points, an increase of 2 points compared to the 2022 school year. The remaining two public schools in Vinh city, Le Viet Thuat High School and Ha Huy Tap High School, also have admission scores nearly 3 points higher than previous years.
The increase in benchmark scores compared to previous years depends on many factors such as the level of the exam and the quality of the candidates. However, this year, the Department of Education and Training allows candidates to adjust their wishes after completing the 10th grade entrance exam, which will also have a significant impact on the enrollment fluctuations of schools. Specifically, at top schools, there will be a number of candidates with high scores transferring back and at the same time, a large number of candidates with lower scores will also transfer away. Therefore, the number of candidates remaining for admission mostly have relatively similar scores. A similar situation can also occur in other schools, causing the percentage of students with high scores in schools to be higher than in previous years.
After changing their wishes, there were quite a few students in the 26-27 range at our school who transferred. However, the number of candidates with scores from 23-25 transferred back was quite a lot. Therefore, it will make it difficult for students with scores from 23 and below. Currently, the first round of the school's benchmark score has just been announced as 22.6. If about 50 students continue to withdraw to specialized schools, the benchmark score will decrease, but not much because the remaining students, with scores from 22 and above, are very numerous, sometimes only a few points difference can make some students pass, some fail.
Admission pressure: The story of "so hard, always talking"!?
Like every year, while many schools in the central area have very high benchmark scores, many schools in the districts have students who only need a few points per subject to pass the exam. For example, at Con Cuong High School, although it is the central school of the district, this year the benchmark score to enter the school is only 11.10 points, meaning that students only need 3.7 points per subject to pass the exam.
Or in Thanh Chuong district, although it is considered a land of learning, the admission scores of the schools are not high, such as Nguyen Canh Chan High School is 12.35 points; Thanh Chuong 1 High School is 16.58 points; Dang Thuc Hua High School is 11.85 points; Thanh Chuong 3 High School is 11.55 points and Nguyen Sy Sach High School is 13.85 points;...
Through the analysis of the score distribution of schools, low admission scores do not mean low input quality. What affects the benchmark scores is partly because the admission rates of these schools are quite high. For example, Nguyen Sy Sach High School (Thanh Chuong), through synthesis, although the school's benchmark score is only nearly 4.7 points/subject, in reality, the average score for Math is 7.29 points, Literature is 7.5 points and English is 4.7 points. Previously, the school was approved for 420 quotas but only 486 candidates registered for the exam, the admission rate is nearly 87%.
Similarly, Nghi Loc 5 High School, the admission score is 12.40 points because the school almost "swept" all the candidates taking the entrance exam when this year the school had 379 quotas but only 397 candidates took the exam, the admission rate was over 95%.
The current problem in 10th grade admission in Nghe An is that while many localities have very high admission rates, in some localities such as Hoang Mai Town, Vinh City, Cua Lo Town, the admission rates are very low, even in Vinh City, this rate, if not counting the number of candidates passing the entrance exam to specialized schools, is only 50 - 60%. That makes the race to enter 10th grade in public schools in the central region always "hot", the benchmark scores are high and the admission pressure is very large. From this reality, in recent years, not only are the admission scores in Vinh City and central schools high, but the admission scores in some schools near the city have also skyrocketed due to the pressure of students in the city moving to suburban districts.
At Nghi Loc 3 High School, in the list of students admitted to the school this year, a large number of students admitted to the school are students from schools in Vinh City such as Hung Dung Secondary School, Nghi Phong, Nghi Duc, Hung Loc, Vinh Tan, Hung Binh, Vinh Pedagogical Practice High School. This leads to the school's benchmark score reaching 17.35, 5 points higher than the previous school year.
A similar situation also occurred at Thai Lao High School (Hung Nguyen). A leader of this school said: The fact that candidates from the city register to take the exam and are admitted to district schools can increase the quality of admission at district schools. However, it leads to another negative side: students in the district (with more difficult learning conditions) do not have the opportunity to be admitted and are forced to study at non-public schools and continuing education centers. The school cannot be assured because among the students from the city who come to study in the district, every year the number of students transferring schools is also very large, causing the school to not have enough students.
Admission pressure in Vinh city and some central schools is not something that has happened overnight but has been happening for many years. However, this year, in addition to the pressure on quotas, the sudden high standard scores have also led to many other pressures. Moreover, the pressure is not only on candidates taking the exam this year but also on other generations of students in the future. Many parents whose children will take the exam next year, in response to the high standard scores, have rushed their children to take extra classes, to increase their English learning to get certificates to increase their chances of being admitted.
Previously, to help students have a meaningful summer, the Department of Education and Training strictly prohibited the organization of extra teaching and learning during the summer. However, in reality, under the great pressure of the 10th grade entrance exam, final year students in Vinh City and many other localities have rushed into exam preparation, racing against time.
The question, when will the 10th grade entrance exam stop being so stressful, still has no answer!