Nghe An education sector is ready for the 2025 exam season with many new features

Preparing for the 2025 exams, Nghe An Newspaper had an interview with Mr. Dao Cong Loi - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training, Deputy Head of the Steering Committee for the 10th Grade Entrance Exam and the 2025 High School Graduation Exam.

Reducing pressure on students in the 10th grade entrance exam

Reporter: Sir, the 10th grade entrance exam is always considered the most difficult exam with a large number of candidates taking the exam every year but the admission quota for public schools is limited. This year, what changes have the exam had compared to previous years?

Mr. Dao Cong Loi:As we know,Entrance exam for grade 10This year there are many changes because this is the first year the exam is conducted according to the 2018 General Education Program.

Before this exam, the Ministry of Education and Training also issued Circular 30/2024/TT-BGDDT with many important adjustments in junior high school and high school admissions to ensure fairness and transparency, while increasing the application of technology to simplify the admission process.

Due to the special nature of this year's exam, from the end of the first semester, Nghe An announced the sample exam structure and announced the third exam subject nearly 2 months earlier than previous years.

This is the first year that the selection of the third exam subject is implemented according to Circular 30, but Nghe An still implements the three exams of Literature - Math - Foreign Language without disrupting the learning and review of students. The exam structure is in a new form, closely following the instructions of the Ministry of Education and Training, with high practicality and application.

This year’s exam also has some changes in favor of candidates. Specifically, this is the first year Nghe An has added bonus points to junior high school students who won provincial-level prizes organized by the Ministry or the Department of Education and Training or in coordination with departments and branches on a province-wide scale.

Adding incentive points will promptly motivate and encourage students and schools in the process of discovering and nurturing excellent students and creating motivation for them to make efforts and practice in their studies.

This has also been the wish of parents, students and schools for many years.

Reporter: Up to now, the Department of Education and Training has announced the admission methods of schools in the 10th grade entrance exam. In your opinion, is this year's exam really as stressful as previous years? Parents are also concerned that the exam will have disruptions after the exam is over and candidates are allowed to change their wishes.

Mr. Dao Cong Loi:When it comes to exams, we talk about scores, competition and inevitable pressure. The 10th grade entrance exam is no exception.

However, if evaluated objectively, this exam will be much less stressful than previous years. Because this year, the Department of Education and Training still maintains the same enrollment quota for public grade 10 as the previous school year (a school year with a sudden increase in the number of candidates taking the exam and most schools have added more classes and quotas).

Meanwhile, the number of students registering for the exam has decreased significantly. Specifically, according to popular data, there are only 46,845 ninth graders in the province this year, a decrease of 6,959 students compared to 2024.

But in reality, according to the number of 10th grade entrance exam registrations, this year the whole province only has nearly 39,000 candidates taking the exam, down from about 5,000 in 2024. Thus, the admission rate to public schools will be much higher, at more than 80%. In fact, this year the admission rate in many schools is very high, even over 90%.

This year, the education sector still allows candidates to change their wishes, but the change time will be reduced to only 2 days so that parents do not worry too much.

However, during the implementation process, because many parents and students did not fully understand the policy or were too concerned about being admitted, the change of wishes was not implemented as intended.

In order to change their wishes to achieve the expected goal, candidates and parents need to pay attention to 3 factors: the size of the enrollment quota of the high school they intend to register for; correctly evaluate the quality of the exam subjects; and receive advice from teachers who teach grade 9 of junior high school.

In addition, the Admissions Committee should remind students and parents to consider carefully before accepting applications to change their preferences, and not to follow the crowd. In fact, the purpose of changing preferences is to increase the candidates' chances of being admitted to public schools.

Prepare early and far for the High School Graduation Exam

Reporter: The 2025 high school graduation exam will have many changes in terms of the number of subjects and the method of organizing the exam. Up to this point, how far have preparations for the exam been implemented, especially in teaching and learning?

Mr. Dao Cong Loi:Like the 10th grade entrance exam, the 2024-2025 school year is the first school year,High school graduation examThe exam is organized according to the 2018 General Education Program.

However, besides that, there are still candidates taking the exam according to the 2006 General Education Program. This year's exam takes place in the context that localities are preparing for the arrangement of the government apparatus according to the direction of the Party and the State, so the preparation for the exam is also organized more urgently, early and from a distance.

Accordingly, from August 2024, the Department of Education and Training has directed high schools to guide and advise students to choose 2 elective subjects that suit their abilities, strengths, and aspirations. From there, schools will develop teaching and review plans for the entire school year that are close to the subject groups of grade 12 students.

By early October 2024, the Department of Education and Training had organized the exam following the instructions of the Ministry of Education and Training, with both essay and multiple choice sections. The questions in the exam were practical and highly applicable, not heavy on calculations, closely following the assessment of ability, creating excitement for students when taking the exam. In the past, based on the exam banks, the Department of Education and Training organized many mock exams on the LMS network to help students get acquainted with the new exam structure. In addition, the Department of Education and Training organized 2 mock exams for students to practice and avoid pressure when officially entering the real exam.

Throughout the school year, the Department of Education and Training has directed and strongly urged schools to do a good job of ensuring quality, teaching and reviewing have been invested in by many schools. Currently, all schools have organized a large-scale survey of the 4 graduation exam subjects that students registered for.

At the same time, assign dedicated, professional, and creative teachers to teach 12th graders, focusing on reviewing as they teach. Along with the review work, schools regularly care for, encourage, and motivate students, organize mock exams at the school and cluster level, and give rewards to students with high results, creating a competitive atmosphere for both teachers and students.

One difficulty this school year is that from the second semester, schools will implement Circular 29 and will not organize extra classes at school. However, in Nghe An, 100% of high schools have organized free extra classes for students.

Following the success of the emulation movement "90 days of determination to achieve high results in the 2024 Graduation Exam", this year the Education sector continues to implement the movement with determination, new spirit and new aspirations, lasting from mid-March until the end of the exam.

This is also an opportunity for the whole industry to affirm the tradition of studiousness of Nghe An homeland, continue to arouse the spirit of solidarity and creativity of the staff, teachers, workers and the efforts of students, striving to excellently complete the tasks of the 2024 - 2025 school year. The goal of the whole industry is to achieve high results in the 2025 high school graduation exam, striving to be ranked 12-15 nationwide), the high school graduation rate in 2025 is from 99.5% or higher.

PV: This year's exam has many adjustments in organization and the exam format is different. Does that affect the preparation process, sir?

Mr. Dao Cong Loi:This year, Nghe An province has more than 40,000 candidates registered for the high school graduation exam. Of which, more than 38,000 candidates are grade 12 students taking the exam under the 2018 General Education program, and the remaining more than 1,400 are independent candidates. Following the instructions of the Ministry of Education and Training, Nghe An organized 2 separate councils for candidates of the 2 programs, due to the different exam times, subject durations and exam questions. Of which, 70 exam sites are for students of the 2018 General Education program, and 2 exam sites are for candidates of the 2006 General Education program.

One of the most important new points of this year's high school graduation exam is the shortened number of exam sessions, to 4 sessions for 4 subjects. This will reduce pressure on candidates and society, but will put pressure on the exam organizers. In particular, in the 3rd exam session, according to regulations, candidates will take 2 elective subjects. However, the new regulations may lead to each exam room having candidates taking many subjects, many different exam codes. Therefore, if the invigilators are not well trained and have a thorough understanding of the operations according to the regulations, there will be a risk of stress and confusion.

To ensure the exam is conducted seriously, safely, and in accordance with regulations, the Department of Education and Training will select experienced teachers to be invigilators. At the same time, training will be organized in many sessions, at each exam site, for those in charge of exam invigilation. In particular, each exam site will have to model for the invigilators from drawing lots for the exam room, the process of distributing exam papers, collecting exam papers, sealing exam papers, submitting exam papers... when transferring exam subjects and ending the exam session.

At this time, Nghe An has established the Steering Committee for the examinations at all levels, issued a plan to organize the graduation exam in 2025. This ensures the time schedule, clearly assigns tasks, clear responsibilities. Issues an inspection plan, coordinates between the Department of Education and Training with the Provincial Police and local departments and branches to organize the exam well.

Although there is still much work to be done, we are assured that the innovations in the graduation exam from 2025 will be highly appreciated by schools, teachers and students, meeting the goals of the new 2018 General Education Program, which focuses on promoting learners' abilities, especially their creativity.
Therefore, in the remaining time, the Department of Education and Training, together with specialized departments and educational institutions, will prepare early and carefully in all aspects so that the 2025 graduation exam in Nghe An province takes place safely, in accordance with regulations and achieves high results.

PV: Thank you!

My Ha