VietNamNet Bridge - The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has prohibited secondary schools from organizing entrance exams with an aim to reduce stress for students, but the aim appears to be unattainable.

MOET has told secondary schools for the gifted to apply necessary measures to select students for the sixth grade without organizing entrance exams. 

However, students, who will finish primary schools in a few weeks, are still wrapped up in their learning to prepare for competition for the schools.

The most prestigious schools in Hanoi have not released their enrolment plans. However, it is clear to everyone that students will have to compete fiercely with each other to obtain seats at the schools. 

The competition ratio is 1/10 or 1/15 on average. Students, for example, must compete with 20 candidates to obtain a seat at the Hanoi-Amsterdam School for the Gifted.

In general, students have to prepare for the competition when they are in the third or fourth grade. 

Parents and students were surprised when they heard that there will be no entrance exam to schools for the gifted. However, they are still continuing to prepare for the competition for the schools.

“They (the schools for the gifted) have been told not to select students through entrance exams. But they will still have to test students’ abilities this or another way to select the best students for them. Therefore, you’ll still need to learn hard,” said Tran Thanh Nha, whose daughter plans to enroll in the Hanoi-Amsterdam School for the gifted this summer.

The race for the schools for the gifted has turned hotter as the 2014-2015 academic year is nearing an end. 

The exam preparation centers are still full of students in all evenings. 

“My colleagues at the same office say their children attend extra learning hours at Tri Duc and Hoc Mai exam preparation centers. The teachers there are experienced,” Nha said.

“But I decided to send my daughter to a private tutoring class run by a teacher from the Hanoi-Amsterdam School. I think the teacher best knows how students need to prepare for the competition,” she added.

The Ngoi Sao Ha Noi Primary School has become famous in recent years because many of its students passed the exams to the Hanoi-Amsterdam School for the Gifted in previous years. 

However, students at the school still attend extra classes to better prepare for the exams.

Nguyen Thi My, deputy headmaster of the school, noted that as students have to learn too hard, they seem to be slack at curricular lessons. 

“I believe that students do not have enough time to sleep and review the lessons, because most of their time is spent in these classes,” she said.

Tien Phong