Anxiously waiting for the third subject to enter grade 10

In this exam, students will take three subjects including math, literature and one of the following subjects: English, physics, chemistry, biology, history, geography. As of March 13, the third subject has not been announced. According to a representative of the Department of Education and Training, the reason for not announcing it is to avoid students from learning by rote or studying lopsidedly. Students must study regularly so that when they enter high school, they will have more opportunities to choose a career. If announced early, students will only focus on studying the subjects they will take and ignore the remaining subjects. According to regulations, the subjects must be announced at least 60 days before the entrance exam.

Many students, teachers, and parents in Hai Duong are very worried and anxiously waiting. On social networking sites, many parents are showing impatience, even frustration. Many people complain: "So impatient", "it's midterm 2, whether it's off or not is the same", "feeling uneasy when reviewing", "so much pressure", "really tired"...

These past few days, my brother who works at the Department of Education and Training has been annoyed because many people have called to ask questions, especially during lunch break and in the evening. Although my brother explained that he was just an employee and did not know any subjects, and that the announcement of exam subjects had to be consulted by the department's leaders, some acquaintances and relatives still did not believe him and even said harsh words of reproach.

Amidst such tension, many groups on social networks “whispered” to each other that this year’s chemistry exam would be held. Parents whose children were not academically fit, good at social subjects but weak at natural subjects, especially chemistry, were even more worried, calling everywhere to verify the information, making students even more confused.

These past few days, in addition to reviewing math, literature and English, my nephew spent an hour studying history, then listened to his friends and reviewed chemistry. According to my nephew, because he didn't know which subjects to take, he studied history based on his intuition. My sister complained!

Many families are so worried that they arrange many personal jobs to focus on supporting their children's review. They make their children study day and night. The reason for such anxiety and impatience is that many students are not studying well, and parents do not believe that their children can pass the high schools they want. Many parents shared that in the past 2 years, especially since grade 9, their children have only focused on reviewing 3 subjects: math, literature, English, and disregarding the remaining subjects. They even revealed that many junior high schools in the area only focus on students studying and reviewing these 3 subjects. In some schools, teachers "ask" for other subject hours to review the above 3 subjects with the prediction that this year's entrance exam to grade 10 will remain stable like last year because the class of students born in 2009 also had more than 2 years of junior high school that were heavily affected by the Covid-19 epidemic. This is also the last class of junior high school students studying the 2006 general education program.

The impatience of parents and students is understandable at present. However, in this context, parents need to be calm, encourage their children to study well, allocate time reasonably, and first of all, complete the junior high school program. Because even if they pass the high school entrance exam, to achieve good results, students must have both knowledge and skills of the subjects in the group, not just the subjects they choose in the following years of study.

The entrance exam for grade 10 of public high schools is annual, conducted systematically, scientifically, and in accordance with regulations. The third exam will be announced within a certain time limit and the basic principle is still to ensure the highest benefits for all candidates. This exam is in the form of multiple choice questions in 60 minutes, the test will be much easier than the two subjects of math and literature. In fact, in 2020, Hai Duong chose chemistry as the third subject, with a higher score than English, many students scored 10 points.

Currently, many provinces and cities have announced plans for public high school grade 10 admissions for the 2024-2025 school year, mainly taking exams in 3 subjects: math, literature and foreign language. Hung Yen province even announced exams in these 3 subjects from early November 2023.