VietNamNet Bridge – It’s now the most difficult period for many parents in big cities, since their children enter the primary school entrance exam season, which is no less stressful than the university entrance exam.

The race among parents

Parents and students wait for the exam

“H”, who lives on Nguyen Chi Thanh Street in Hanoi, related that her son attended the exam which took place on April 23 and 24. All the examinees stayed at the school from the morning to late afternoon, while they had lunches right at the school.

“My son looked radiant and self-confident when he left the school in the afternoon. He said he would pass the exam. However, he could not tell me what he did at the exam. I was worried stiff,” she said.

As predicted, the boy failed the exam. However, H does not give up the plan on sending the boy to a prestigious private school. “I will ask my son to attend another exam to another primary school. Doan Thi Diem School is an ideal choice, but I am afraid he will fail again,” she said. “If he fails again, he will have to go to a state owned school”.

H, like many other parents, does not dare to let her child to attend the exam to the Doan Thi Diem Primary School, because the school has been well known as setting very high requirements on students.

The exam questions of Doan Thi Diem School are always so difficult that people believe that the questions are as complicated as the questions raised at the “Road to Olympia”, a contest for high school excellent students. Some people comment on education forums that with such the exam questions, Vietnam will become the country with the best education in the world.

A member from the mathematics forum of the Hanoi University for Natural Sciences commented that if students can solve all the exam questions, the knowledge for first grade will not be a problem to them.

1400 students attended the entrance exam to Doan Thi Diem school, held on May 28, while the school plans to enroll 400 students only. “T”, a parent, whose daughter luckily passed the exam to Doan Thi Diem School, said that the girl had to spend much time to prepare for exam by attending the Tuoi Tho Club of the school since March 2011. Besides, the girl also went to a private tutoring class once a week. Especially, she is very good at English, because she has been going to Apollo, an English center, for the last two years.

“My relatives and colleagues all say congratulations to me, and I am proud of my daughter because this was really a difficult exam. I think that the parents whose children pass the university entrance exams would be not happier than me,” she said.

Many students, few schools

The Experimental Primary School, a unit of the Vietnam Education Science Institute, but operates under the mode of non-state owned school, only issued a limited number of application forms. Therefore, parents every summer have to queue up in front of the school to purchase the forms.

A lot of parents were seen cooling their heels at the school at 3-4 am, waiting for application forms; even though the school announced it began selling the forms at 8 am. However, parents affirmed that the forms ran out right at 7.30 am. Some parents said some “brokers” offered to sell the form at 500,000 dong.

About 600 forms have been sold, which means that 600 students will take the entrance exam, while the school will accept 180 students only.

The exams to non-state owned primary schools will last until the end of June. Lomonosov School will organize the exam on June 11, while students will have to attend the exam to Le Quy Don School on June 18. Many parents say they have been worried stiff when hearing that the school will enroll only 360 students, while the number of registered students has reach 1000.

The stressful exams to primary schools take place every summer. No one can say for sure when the situation will be improved, because there are always many students, while there are very few good schools with good material facilities.

Source: Tien phong