Education and training

Drawing lots for the third exam subject to enter grade 10: A game of chance, adding pressure to students

VN (according to VTC News) October 7, 2024 17:22

Many experts and teachers do not support the option of drawing lots for a third exam subject for grade 10 next year. Most of them suggest that the exam subjects should be fixed so that students can easily review.

Bốc thăm môn thi thứ 3 vào lớp 10: 'Trò chơi may rủi, học sinh càng thêm áp lực' - 1
Many experts and teachers disagree with the plan to draw lots for the third exam subject for grade 10.

Exams are not a game of chance.

The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) is seeking opinions from localities on the draft regulations on secondary and high school admissions, in which the 10th grade entrance exam is of interest to many parents and students.

According to the ministry's proposal, the 10th grade entrance exam from 2025 onwards will include three subjects: math, literature, and one subject randomly drawn by the Department of Education and Training from among the remaining subjects in the new general education program (foreign language, civics, natural sciences, history and geography, technology, information technology, physical education, and arts). The subjects drawn by lot will be announced before March 31 every year.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu (a junior high school teacher in Dong Da district, Hanoi) said that the purpose of the Ministry of Education and Training may be to avoid the situation of lopsided learning and rote learning of subjects. However, this lottery makes it difficult for schools, teachers, and parents to orient students in their studies, exams, and careers, "like a game of chance, making students and parents even more pressured and stressed about the 10th grade entrance exam".

"The Ministry of Education and Training should only delegate to localities to make decisions, increase initiative, decentralization and responsibility. Local leaders will choose to issue decisions based on the advice of the Department of Education and Training, similar to previous years, there should be no innovation," said the female teacher. Thereby, helping students have orientation right from the first years of secondary school, in accordance with the education development plan and local characteristics.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu also suggested that if the Ministry of Education and Training really wants to innovate, it should let students choose a third subject in addition to math and literature.

The reason she proposed such a plan is because the goal and requirement of the new general education program for junior high school and high school is to provide career orientation and self-selection of subjects appropriate to one's abilities. Therefore, allowing students to choose their own subjects like the new high school graduation exam is also a way to provide career orientation and appropriate subject combinations, connecting with high school, instead of assigning or drawing lots.

On the other hand, allowing students to choose a third exam subject also helps limit the selection of key schools that do not have the subject combinations they love or are not suitable for their career orientation.

Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam, Chairman of the Board of Dinh Tien Hoang High School (Hanoi), said that the Ministry of Education and Training's concern that fixed exams for all three subjects would cause imbalanced learning is reasonable, but it should be considered from the perspective that drawing lots can make any subject an exam subject and there may be a situation where students have to take extra classes to prepare for all subjects.

Dr. Tung Lam said that we should not agree with the option of choosing exam subjects by random drawing, "there is no scientific research that accurately assesses whether exams will promote learning in a positive direction".

Should fix the third exam subject

Mr. Nguyen Quang Tung, Principal of Lomonosov Secondary and High School, analyzed that the plan to have compulsory literature and math exams and draw lots for the third subject has both advantages and disadvantages.

Bốc thăm môn thi thứ 3 vào lớp 10: 'Trò chơi may rủi, học sinh càng thêm áp lực' - 2
A survey on the option of drawing lots for the third exam subject in grade 10

"This plan will unify the number of subjects nationwide, avoiding wasting human resources and money when some places have to take 4 or 5 subjects. The plan also avoids students only studying 3 subjects and schools only focusing on teaching 3 subjects, causing students to not receive a comprehensive education," he said, emphasizing that the advantage is that students will have to study all subjects equally until the end of the program.

However, the disadvantage of this option is that drawing lots and announcing the third exam subject late may put pressure on a group of parents and students in urban areas, where the competition rate for admission to grade 10 is high.

Therefore, he proposed a fixed option of taking three subjects: math, literature, and foreign language. Taking a foreign language exam in grade 10 also contributes to gradually improving foreign language skills for students in areas with many socio-economic difficulties.

"Over the past three years, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Duong and many other localities have chosen to test three subjects: math, literature, and foreign language. Students and parents have supported it, and the quality of students has always been guaranteed to be streamed and properly evaluated. Reality has proven and tested this plan, so there is no reason to change it," Mr. Tung affirmed.

Responding to the press, Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, wishes to maintain and grant autonomy in choosing the third subject in the 10th grade entrance exam as it is now. Each locality builds a different education development strategy, depending on the reality and specifics.

According to Mr. Minh, the goal of the new general education program is not to evaluate students based on knowledge of a subject but to focus on assessing their qualities, abilities, and ability to apply knowledge to solve practical problems. Therefore, in the 10th grade exam, regardless of the third subject, there is no need to worry about students learning or taking the exam in a skewed way, and they only focus on studying the subjects that are the subjects for the exam.

Explaining the plan to draw lots for the third exam subject for grade 10, a representative of the drafting committee of the Ministry of Education and Training said that the Ministry of Education and Training plans to require drawing lots for the third exam subject and announcing it before March 31 to avoid students at the secondary level from studying lopsidedly, focusing only on the exam subjects.

In fact, if this draft is unanimously promulgated, it will make a major change in the regulations on grade 10 admission. According to the current regulations applied for decades, the Ministry of Education and Training does not interfere with the admission methods of each locality but leaves it to the locality to choose and decide on the method of admission to grade 10 that is suitable to its goals and actual conditions.

Therefore, for a long time, each locality has had its own admission method. Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Hai Duong have all tested three subjects: math, literature and foreign language for many years. Hanoi has a policy of adding a fourth subject and this subject is also randomly drawn, as the Ministry of Education and Training is planning to apply nationwide.

VN (according to VTC News)
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Drawing lots for the third exam subject to enter grade 10: A game of chance, adding pressure to students