Why did the Ministry of Education and Training propose adding extra points to grade 10 for children of revolutionary cadres before 1945?

The Ministry of Education and Training announced a draft of the regulations for secondary and high school admissions a few days ago. Three groups of candidates will be given 1-2 priority points in grade 10 admissions, including children of families with meritorious services to the revolution, ethnic minorities, or those living and studying in particularly disadvantaged areas.

In particular, candidates will be awarded 2 points (the highest level) if they are children of revolutionary activists before August 1945.

This proposal is being hotly discussed on social media forums. Many people think that the ministry's proposal is unrealistic because those who participated in the revolution before 1945 are now over 90 years old. Meanwhile, students taking the 10th grade exam are 15 years old.

On the evening of October 25, a representative of the ministry's circular drafting committee said the policy applies to both biological and legally adopted children of revolutionary cadres.

This proposal is based on Decree 131 of 2021 of the Government on incentives for people with revolutionary contributions. For example, there are people who joined the revolution at the age of 15, but only adopted children when they were 70-80 years old.

"We have carefully calculated during the drafting process and believe that the above possibility still exists, so we should include it so as not to miss out on people who deserve preferential treatment," said a ministry representative.

2025 is the year the first batch of students studying under the new general education program will graduate from junior high school. According to the ministry's draft, three methods of admission to grade 10 include entrance exams, admission by selection, or a combination of entrance exams and selection, chosen by the locality.

As for the entrance exam, the ministry plans to include math, literature and a third subject. This subject changes every year and is chosen from the following subjects: foreign language 1, civics, natural sciences, history and geography, technology, and information technology.

The Ministry also clearly stipulates three levels of bonus points 1, 1.5 and 2 for three priority groups of candidates. Meanwhile, current regulations allow localities to decide.

The Ministry plans to issue regulations on secondary and high school admissions before December 31, applicable from the next school year.