National High School Exam on Computer in Nghe An: Hardly Feasible
(Baonghean) - From 2021 to 2025, the Ministry of Education and Training is considering and developing a plan to conduct the National High School Exam on computers. However, this plan is difficult to implement in areas with unfavorable conditions, including many schools in Nghe An.
Many concerns
Although up to this point, the plan has only been put out for public consultation, many students are quite worried, including those in specialized schools.
Student Bành Thảo Linh - Grade 11 IT major student, Vinh University High School for the Gifted said: "I heard my teacher say that next school year the National High School Exam will be switched to computer-based and I am quite worried. In fact, for IT major students, we are not worried about the operation, but I think that if the method changes, the exam content will also change. After many years of taking the exam on paper and having practiced how to take the National High School Exam, I sincerely hope that 2021 will not change because from now until the exam, we only have more than 1 year to prepare."
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| Paper-based exams are suitable for the actual conditions in Nghe An. Photo: My Ha. |
At Tan Ky 3 High School, taking exams on computers is also causing great concern for teachers, students and the entire school. Because in reality, the school currently has more than 1,000 students but the whole school only has 24 computers. Therefore, if we try to arrange, at most each class can only practice in the computer room for 5-7 periods/semester. That will certainly also affect the operations and accessibility of students to computers. Meanwhile, to take exams on computers, students must practice and get familiar with many computers and practice questions on computers.
If we follow the ministry's plan, next school year we will take the exam on computers, but in reality, up to this point, due to lack of computers, we have not had this practice session for more than 2 months. Therefore, if we take the exam on computers, our operations will certainly be slower than those in other favorable areas, while the exam is the same for the whole country, so our chances of passing the university entrance exam will be lower."
As a school IT teacher, Ms. Le Thi Thuy is also very concerned about this: “Currently, learning on computers at school is facing many difficulties because the facilities are not guaranteed. The students themselves, because they live in remote areas, have little access to the computer, so the operations on the computer are very slow, students have to sit together 2, 3 students/computer and need regular teacher support. With this reality, the National High School Exam, in my opinion, needs a long roadmap and during that time, schools need to invest in equipment for students to get used to it. Learning IT also needs to be invested in from primary school, not just at high school...”.
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| Computer Science class of students at Pham Hong Thai High School - Hung Nguyen. Photo: Duc Anh |
Previously, Tan Ky 3 High School also "tested" computer-based exams through two contests: Learning about the Communist Party and Learning and Following Uncle Ho, and students at the school were also excited to participate in the exams.
However, because the school's computer room is not yet connected to the internet, students must take the exam on their homeroom teacher's phone or computer. Some teachers even have the "initiative" of renting private internet rooms for students to take the exam to ensure the requirements. Teachers here also believe that because the practice time for students is too short, a school year is only more than 20 periods, if a family does not have a computer, many students will not be familiar with the symbols on the keyboard, making teaching and learning very difficult.
Careful preparation is required.
The policy of organizing the National High School Exam on computers has begun to be discussed by the Ministry of Education and Training at a meeting to discuss the plan for organizing the exam, considering recognition of high school graduation and enrollment after 2020. Also according to the roadmap set by the Ministry of Education and Training, in the coming years, the Ministry will gradually pilot the National High School Exam on computers to approach the world trend.
With this exam, candidates can participate in several rounds during the year at locations of independent testing organizations; the highest result will be selected to be used for recognition of high school graduation and can be referenced and used by universities and vocational training institutions in enrollment (if needed).
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| National High School Exam 2018 - 2019 school year. Photo: My Ha |
The proposal received mixed opinions after being put forward and many teachers said that computer-based testing can only be applied in favorable areas. In the rest, in difficult, remote and isolated areas, this is difficult to implement because not only the physical facilities but also the human resources are not guaranteed.
In Nghe An, this is even more valid when currently, the teaching and learning of Information Technology still has many shortcomings. For example, at the primary level, currently, most schools do not have teachers to teach Information Technology, so this subject can only be implemented smoothly in schools in cities, towns or in central areas.
At the secondary level, IT is now also an elective subject. However, in favorable areas such as Vinh city, although IT teaching has been implemented for more than 10 years in general schools, at the beginning of this school year, parents still do not agree because many schools collect IT tuition fees against regulations. Meanwhile, schools face many difficulties because they do not have IT teachers on staff and if they hire guest teachers, they do not have the budget to pay.
In the remaining districts, although Information Technology is highly encouraged by the education departments, only schools with teachers organize teaching; most schools choose cultural subjects to teach as elective subjects.
Faced with this reality, teacher Nguyen Dinh Nhung - Principal of Con Cuong Ethnic Minority Secondary School said: "I see that the quality of teaching and learning of Informatics in secondary schools is currently uneven and students themselves are only just getting acquainted with Informatics. This will certainly affect the quality of teaching and learning of Informatics in high schools and without investment, it will be difficult to meet the requirements of computer-based Informatics exams."
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| Computer class of students at Nguyen Bieu Secondary School - Hung Nguyen. Photo: My Ha |
At high school level, although IT is a compulsory subject, practical learning has been limited and ineffective. For example, at Que Phong High School, there are currently more than 1,600 students in 42 classes but only 50 usable computers.
Recently, the monitoring delegation of the Provincial People's Council also surveyed the teaching of IT in some standard schools in Quynh Luu district and found many shortcomings when the functionality of the IT rooms was not high.
As at Quynh Luu 1 High School, through a survey of an 11th grade class, since the beginning of the school year, there have been 8 IT lessons, but the first practical lesson was not until the end of October. From the above difficulties, it can be seen that the implementation of the National High School Exam on computers needs a specific roadmap.
In my opinion, in the first year, the Ministry needs to organize the exam in a voluntary form so that students can register themselves. When the implementation is favorable, the Ministry will synchronize it so that schools have a process to approach and implement it carefully.
