Early adjustment to adapt to university entrance exams under the new program
(Baonghean.vn) - After 2 years of implementation in high school, the new program and the change in testing methods have significantly changed the way students choose subjects and test subjects at schools. This change also forced schools to adapt, despite many difficulties.
Many subjects are no longer an advantage.
Xong Y Thai, a student of class 11C1 - Ky Son High School (Ky Son district) is aiming to pursue block C to achieve his dream of entering a teacher training university. At this time, in addition to studying at school, Thai still studies Literature, Math, and Foreign Language in the afternoon. However, in the near future, Thai can study History and Geography and will temporarily stop studying Foreign Language.
Sharing about this, Thai said: Next year we will only take 4 graduation exams, in addition to 2 compulsory subjects: Math and Literature, I will choose 2 elective subjects: History and Geography. These are also my university entrance exams, so I think I will study more easily and not be under as much pressure as before.
This school year is the second year that the new General Education Program has been implemented at the high school level with 2 grades 10 and 11. The new program with many changes in the selection of compulsory subjects and elective subjects has also changed the teaching and learning in schools. This change is even more obvious after the Ministry of Education and Training announced the plan for the high school graduation exam in 2025.
Accordingly, instead of taking 6 subjects as present, including 3 compulsory subjects: Math, Literature, Foreign Language, from 2025, the number of graduation exam subjects will only be 4 subjects with 2 compulsory subjects: Math, Literature and the remaining 2 subjects are elective subjects out of 9 subjects including Foreign Language, History, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Economic and Legal Education, Information Technology, Technology.
Speaking more about this, teacher Le Van Tao - Principal of Ky Son High School said: "Since the high school graduation exam plan was established, our school has organized two counseling sessions for students, the purpose is to help students choose subjects that are suitable for their abilities, their interests but also not emotional so that they can choose a suitable career later. In fact, in addition to the two compulsory subjects, the trend of elective subjects is often inclined towards social subjects. For example, in my school, 36% of students register for History, 33% of students register for Geography, more than 30% for Biology, more than 20% for Technology and the rest are scattered in other subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, Economic and Legal Education. In particular, for Foreign Languages, the percentage of students registering is less than 6%".
Not only in mountainous districts, students in plain districts also had many changes in their subject choices when the Ministry introduced a new exam plan.
Sharing about this, student Dang Thi Ban Hong, class 10C6 - Nam Dan 2 High School (Nam Dan district) said: "I dream of taking the entrance exam to Hanoi Law University and according to tradition, I will take the C block exam. Currently, I am focusing on 3 main subjects to prepare for the exam: History, Geography and Literature. My classmates are also tending to register to choose subjects according to the block combination for university admission, focusing on block C and block D".
Regarding the current teaching and learning for students under the new General Education Program, teacher Pham Xuan Phu - Principal of Nam Dan 2 High School said: To implement the 2 + 2 graduation exam plan, we conducted a survey for students to choose to register for elective subjects. Before that, we also advised, oriented and gave students time to consult with their parents, because this will be related to their career choices after graduation. Currently, through statistics, it shows that depending on each class, depending on the needs of the students, the choice of subjects has quite clear differences.
Most of the time, students tend to choose subjects that they are most confident in, focusing mainly on combinations of subjects such as: Math - Literature - Physics - Chemistry, Math - Literature - History - Geography, Math - Literature - History - Economics and Law.
Difficult to orient
Also according to teacher Pham Xuan Phu, with the graduation exam method in the form of 2 + 2, students have quite an advantage when registering for graduation. As inNam Dan 2 High School, in grades 10 and 11, each grade currently has 10 classes. Of which, 4 classes have capable students, most of whom wish to take the university entrance exam, so it is easy to register for graduation exams and all follow the trend of grades A, B, C and D.
However, in the remaining 6 classes, students mainly only take graduation exams and go to work, so the choice of elective subjects is quite diverse, in which many students register to take subjects such as Economic and Legal Education, Agricultural Technology. With this change, teaching and learning at school must also be adjusted, despite many difficulties.
We have organized extra classes for students according to their new registration wishes and currently the school teaches many subjects. However, the proportion of subjects is quite different, for example, English has only 3/10 classes registered. The remaining subjects such as History 6/10 classes, Geography 5/10 classes, Economic and Legal Education 3/10 classes, Technology 2/10 classes, Physics, Chemistry, Biology are mainly only registered by students taking the A and B exams.
With this division of students, it is quite difficult to arrange teachers and students because they may not be in the same class and have overlapping schedules. In addition, there are situations where teachers teach too many classes and too many periods. Meanwhile, there are subjects that teachers do not teach enough periods and have to take on other subjects.
Reality also shows that, through research at schools and research from many parents and students, with the 2+2 exam plan,High School Graduation Exam from 2025is considered quite easy compared to the current exam method. But besides that, the university admission method has changed a lot, so if you only study according to the old method, it is difficult to ensure certainty.
Talking about his concerns, student Nguyen Binh Nhi - Huynh Thuc Khang High School (Vinh City) said: I see the current trend, many universities do not prioritize the use of admission methods based on high school graduation exam results and do not prioritize admission based on academic records.
Instead, the main trend is to take the results of competency assessment tests and thinking assessment tests, separate exams of universities with many comprehensive subjects. Therefore, if only studying for graduation exams and for admission according to block combinations will be a disadvantage for students in the upcoming exams.
Therefore, I think that instead of choosing only a few subjects for the graduation exam, students need to study all subjects equally to avoid biased learning, cramming and being able to participate in the competency assessment exams. However, if students study too many subjects, they will be under a lot of pressure.
Despite concerns, the difficulty is that currently, in addition to the graduation exam plan, from 2025, universities have not yet proposed any capacity assessment test plans. Therefore, students, teachers and schools are still having to "grope" to come up with suitable teaching and learning orientations. This change will even affect the trend of choosing schools and specialized groups for high school students from the coming years.
Many opinions are also skeptical that if university admissions no longer give priority to students from specialized schools, and do not give priority to students who are admitted based on their academic records, parents and students will have to consider carefully when choosing the right school and class, ensuring they study hard and take real exams to be able to meet the requirements of the exams in the coming years.
