Candidates practice for exams at "crash school"

(Baonghean) -The university entrance exam is approaching very soon. That means that the candidates are in the most intense stage. There are many forms of review, depending on the conditions, habits, and interests of each candidate. Among them, going to "crash schools" is also one of the options...

1:45 p.m. June 9. A crash course on Pham Kinh Vy Street, near Vinh University, is preparing for the Algebra class. The sun is blazing hot, but groups of students still try to park their vehicles quickly to enter the class, hoping to find a seat up front to make it easier to absorb the lessons, or at least a seat near a fan to ease the heat. Nguyen Trung Nguyen, from Hong Linh High School, is sweating profusely: “My mother drove me out on my motorbike at 11 a.m. today. I’ll study one subject this afternoon to see how it goes. If it seems effective, I’ll stay and rent a room to study. After all, there are only 20 more days…” Ms. Nga - Nguyen's mother also worriedly shared: "I heard his friends invite each other to Vinh to study quickly. I also don't want to let him go because the weather is hot, the house is far away, and there is not much time left, so I want to focus on studying at home, to stay healthy. But all his friends are going, I don't feel secure if I don't go...".

Candidates "squeeze" into the "training furnace".

Reviewing for university entrance exams at exam preparation centers is not a new thing in Vinh City. About 8-10 years ago, the activities of these exam preparation centers were much more bustling and crowded than now. Firstly, at that time, the "3 common" exam format (common questions, common session, common floor score) did not exist, so candidates applying to any school wanted to review for the exam in that school's area. Furthermore, after a while, many people realized that reviewing for university entrance exams at the "centers" was not really effective, which also contributed to the decrease in the number of candidates registering for review. Not to mention the social issues that have a significant impact on the review situation, in which the appearance of more and more universities has expanded the opportunity to enter university, because every school has a need to recruit students...

Normally, from March every year, exam preparation centers have opened university "preparation" classes. But because at this time, students are still studying at high schools, the review schedule is still relatively sparse, averaging about 5 "session" per week, mainly focusing on the evenings or Saturdays and Sundays. Students studying for the exam this time are mostly from the city. The number of students is also scattered, not increasing dramatically. But when it comes to the intensive review period, the situation is different. As soon as students finish their high school graduation exams, the "factory" is ready to "display" signs and invitations. The most important thing for each "factory", and for the students, is a good and famous "teacher".

Students from rural, mountainous areas or neighboring districts do not really know which teachers are good, which teachers are experienced, but because of "hearing" and "hearing rumors", they naturally register. Although compared to before, many "furnaces" have withdrawn and are no longer operating, but on Pham Kinh Vy and Bach Lieu streets, there are still some "furnaces" that are considered by many to be relatively "reputable". Just stop your car in front of the "furnaces", ask a few questions, and you will receive a pre-photocopied class schedule, specifically stating the class hours, subjects, and names of the teachers. Because it is "express", the timetable is dense. There are "furnaces" that have 5 "shifts" almost every day (each "shift" is 2 hours). In the morning, there are 2 "shifts", from 6:30 to 8:30 and from 8:30 to 10:30; Afternoon also has 2 shifts, from 2pm to 4pm and from 4pm to 6pm; evening shift from 6pm to 8pm.

This schedule starts from June 5. The most crowded are still the candidates taking the A and B exams. With this schedule, on average, each candidate, if attending fully, has 5 "shifts" per day. Hot, crowded, tiring, many students are exhausted. Therefore, most of them choose the "pay for each session" study method, which is both proactive in their schedule and does not cost money on days off unexpectedly. For each "shift" of intensive exam review, candidates have to pay 25,000 VND. This time, on average, each class ranges from 70 to approximately 100 students, depending on the subject, the teacher and the time (the "shifts" in the early afternoon, due to the heat, have fewer people than the "shifts" in the morning). This number is significantly reduced compared to many previous years; and the students' seats are also more comfortable, with almost no jostling or pushing. According to our survey, the test preparation center owner receives 30% of the total amount of money for each class, which is about 500,000 VND to 700,000 VND/ "class", depending on the number of people, the rest is paid to the teacher. Because of this amount of money, the "instruction centers" still have hidden competition, the aim is to attract as many students as possible to their "instruction centers".

At 4:10 p.m. on June 9, we went to a “furnace” on Bach Lieu Street. Nguyen Thi Hien from Nam Dan stayed behind to talk to us: “I just finished my Chemistry class. There were about 80 people in the class. There were many fans but they weren’t cool enough. The teacher was sweating too. Many people came but didn’t concentrate on studying. It was too hot. My friend was in poor health so one day she could only study for a short while, then had to take a break in the middle of the session and then go back to her hometown to review on her own. I’ll probably only study for another week, then go back to study on my own like my friend…”.

When we asked the question: “How effective is the intensive exam preparation course?”, Hien seemed hesitant: “The exam preparation knowledge is no different from what we learned at school or at home. But going this way makes me feel more secure.” In fact, our question is not intended to generalize the quality of intensive university exam preparation centers. Because depending on the subjectivity of each candidate, there are different answers. Many students said that they learned many new things, especially when teachers guided them to a more scientific way of studying, but many also said that “it’s still the same”, just more tired, hotter, more worried…

However, looking at reality, a crowded class is clearly less effective than a small class. And a constantly "running" schedule of classes and teaching is also difficult to bring about the desired results. Spending a lot of time "studying in the oven", getting home tired and sleepy, so most students have no time to review lessons and do new types of exercises. Moreover, this is the "sprint" stage, students are quite stressed and under a lot of pressure. Therefore, by going to the "fast-track" "oven", they want to "reassure" their families and themselves, to be more confident when entering the university entrance exam. From the opening of the course until mid-June is the time when there are the most students. After that, this number "drops" gradually, the classes are empty, and almost "closed" before the original plan of the timetable.

Through a discussion with a teacher with “experience” in crash course exam preparation (he asked to remain anonymous), he sincerely shared: “If you have a firm grasp of the curriculum, there is no need to go to review for the exam. At home, take advantage of the time, systemize your knowledge, along with that, stay healthy, stabilize your mentality, and the exam results will be positive”…

Article and photos: NGUYEN NGUYEN