Only 60 percent of students will be admitted to state-owned high schools

Only 60 percent of the students will be admitted to state-owned schools, so the competition will be worse than in previous years.

Nguyen Thi Minh Lam, whose daughter goes to Khuong Dinh Secondary School, said she is worried because she heard about the increased competition this year.

The students who will attend the high school exam in 2018 were born in 2003. The number of children born in that year was high as this was the year of ‘golden goat’, an auspicious year.

Lam said she doesn’t have money to send her daughter to a private school because of high tuition. The education quality at continuing centers is reportedly problematic, so state schools are her preference.

Lam’s daughter now has a busy timetable as she has to run against the clock to prepare for the entrance exam. After official school hours, the girl goes to exam prep classes and studies with private tutors as well.

Le Thuy Mai, a parent in Cau Giay district, said she has had to resign her job to spend more time to take care of her daughter who is going to sit the high school entrance exam in 2018.

“I have to bring her to school and private tutoring classes, pick her up and prepare meals. This job is more important than any other thing at this moment. If my daughter fails the exam, things will be very difficult for us,” she said.

“My daughter now has extra classes at three exam preparation centers,” she said, adding that if her daughter has opportunities with many teachers, she will be familiar with different forms of math questions.

A high school teacher in Hanoi said the exam preparation work has not yet kicked off at schools, because the first semester has just finished. 

However, students began preparing for the exam when the new academic year began. Some students have been preparing for exam for the last three years.

“The high school entrance exam is even tougher than the exam to university,” he commented.

Do Viet Hien, headmaster of Khuong Dinh Secondary School, confirmed that schools are not allowed to prepare students for the exam until May 2018. 

However, she thinks there is no need to be too worried about the exam. 

‘Good’ students are advised to apply to Tran Hung Dao and Quang Trung High Schools, while only ‘excellent’ students should apply for Kim Lien and Le Quy Don High Schools, which set very high exam scores.

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