VietNamNet Bridge - The high schools for the gifted in HCM City will enroll 2,295 students in the 2016-2017 academic year. As many universities admit students from high schools for the gifted without asking them to sit entrance exams, the competition to the ‘star’ schools’ is getting fierce.

The number of students to be admitted to the majority of high schools for the gifted remain unchanged this academic year.

Tran Dai Nghia is the only one out of 9 high schools for the gifted in HCM City which plans to enroll more students for the 2016-2017 academic year. It admitted 370 students last year and plans to enroll 405 this year. Meanwhile, Le Hong Phong has decided to cut five seats.

Other schools have enrolment plans unchanged if compared with the year before. Gia Dinh plans to enroll 210 students to its selected classes, Nguyen Thuong Hien 175, Mac Dinh Chi 210, Nguyen Huu Huan 175, Cu Chi 140, Trung Phu 140 and Nguyen Huu Cau 140.

As many universities admit students from high schools for the gifted without asking them to sit entrance exams, the competition to the ‘star’ schools’ is getting fierce.

The competition to the Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted proves to be the fiercest one with 2,871 students having registered to compete for the seats there. 

The race for Tran Dai Nghia is also expected to be stiff with 764 candidates. Meanwhile, 611 students have registered to attend the entrance exam to Nguyen Thuong Hien School.

The headmaster of a high school which has some selected classes for the gifted, said the number of students registering to attend entrance exam to her school is lower this year, while the number of students to be admitted remains unchanged. However, this does not mean that the school would set lower required exam scores.

The headmaster noted that fewer students apply for high schools for the gifted because students nowadays tend to be more practical. 

“They understand their abilities well and will not run the race for high schools for the gifted if they are not sure they can pass the exams,” she explained, adding that the exam questions in the last few years were very difficult.

Nguyen Thi Thu Cuc, headmaster of Gia Dinh School also said that the exam scores students must get from the entrance exam to the school may be the same as last year.

Nguyen Duc Nghia, deputy director of the HCM City National University, commented that high schools for the gifted were more attractive in the eyes of students because of opportunities to enter prestigious universities offered to the students.

Some universities, including the national university, have announced that the students from some high schools for the gifted will be admitted without having to attend entrance exams.


NLD