VietNamNet Bridge - The entrance exam to state-owned schools was so difficult that even excellent secondary school graduates also failed the exam.

Many parents were surprised when their children got relatively low scores on entrance exams to state-owned high schools, though they received the ‘excellent student’ title at secondary schools.

Though anticipating competition due to the sharp increase in the number of examinees, Nguyen Bang, whose daughter studied at a prestigious secondary school in Hanoi, still could not imagine that the girl would fail.

Bang’s daughter applied for Chu Van An High School as the first option and to Pham Hong Thai High School as the second choice. Chu Van An is one of the best schools in Hanoi.

The girl also registered to attend the entrance exam to the Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted.

She got a 51.5 score on the exam, which shocked her parents. She had many private tutoring lessons with good teachers.

High schools in Hanoi still have not stated the required exam scores, and therefore, it is still unclear if the girl can enter a state owned school.

Bang has asked for a check of his daughter’s examination papers in literature. 

“She told me that she did the literature exam well. However, she got 6.75 scores only,” Bang complained.

In the worst case, Bang would have to enroll his daughter in a private school, Vinschool or Newton, though private school will require high tuition.

Before the entrance exam was organized, the Hanoi Education and Training Department said that state-owned schools would enroll 50,000 students this year, which means that 30,000 students would fail the exams and have to go to people-founded schools, continuing education schools or vocational schools after finishing secondary school education. 

Hoa, a parent who has a daughter attending the exam to the Vietnam-Germany High School, also said she could not understand why her daughter got a 48 score on the exam.

“Her GPA was very high, above 9.0, at secondary school. Therefore, teachers all advised her to apply to prestigious schools,” Hoa said.

Hoa said that the exam questions might be too difficult for students. “I cannot think of any other explanation if many good and excellent students, including three children of my colleagues, also failed the exam,” Hoa said.

The number of students registering to attend state-owned high schools in 2015, not including schools for the gifted, was 10,000 higher than last year.

According to the Hanoi Education Department, state-owned high schools will receive about 56,000 students this year, satisfying only 60-70 percent of demand. 

Some top high schools, Kim Lien, Phan Dinh Phung, Yen Hoa and Le Quy Don, have announced competition ratios at 1:2.5-1:3. Meanwhile, one examinee will have to compete with five for a seat at Chu Van An High School.

Van Chung