VietNamNet Bridge – While schools wait for a final enrollment scheme to be approved by the Ministry of Education and Training, the race among parents to find a place for their children at a top junior high school in Ha Noi has started to heat up.

Luong The Vinh High School began selling registration forms for the sixth and tenth grades on Monday, and all 1,600 forms were sold out at the school's locations in Cau Giay and Thanh Xuan in the morning, according to the school's Board of Management chairman, Associate Professor Van Nhu Cuong.

"We will continue to print and sell more forms. The forms are unlimited, so parents shouldn't be too worried," Cuong said.

Local media reported that parents crowded the school's gates an hour ahead of the sale.

A mother named Lan Huong said having learned about the school's plan to sell registration forms on Tuesday, she had got up quite early to queue up for a set for her child who is due to finish primary school.

"We weren't sure if there was a limited number of registration forms or if we could still buy them if we arrived late. Of course, we also care about the enrollment criteria set by the schools," said Huong.

"The school said it will enroll students based on various criteria, but we want to know if students with outstanding grades will be prioritised," added Huong, who successfully bought a registration set.

Associate Professor Cuong said to ensure objectiveness and fairness, the school also planned to interview students with questions related to general knowledge to evaluate their behaviour and attitude.

Tran Van Khanh, a resident from Thanh Xuan District's Trung Hoa residential area, said his child had achieved excellent results at school from the first to the fifth grades so the family expected him to be accepted at one of the top schools, such as Ha Noi – Amsterdam, Luong The Vinh or Cau Giay.

"Over the past few days, our family has been taking turns monitoring schools that are selling registration forms, but we've been unable to buy one," Khanh said.

The Marie Curie Junior High School was due to put registration forms for six grade on sale in a few days time, but there wouldn't be a limit on the number of forms sold, said the school's principal Nguyen Xuan Khang. The school has 300 seats for new sixth graders.

Headmaster of Cau Giay Junior High School Nguyen Thi Kim Anh said the school was unable to inform students and their parents about details of its enrollment scheme as it hadn't approved by local authorities.

Schools must complete their enrollment schemes and report to the municipal Department of Education and Training by next Wednesday.

These schemes will be made public on the city's Department of Education and Training website by May 30.

VNS