VietNamNet Bridge – Exam preparation centers nowadays cannot attract learners, because students prefer staying at home and preparing for the exams with online lessons.

Exam preparation centers have mushroomed recently in anticipation of the demand increase caused by a new decision by the Ministry of Education and Training that junior college graduates also have to attend the national exams to follow higher education. Previously, the students only had to attend the exams to the universities they chose instead of the national exams.

However, contrary to all predictions, the centers have been deserted with very few learners registered to date, just four months before the national exams.

Nguyen Duc Quoc, Director of the exam preparation center at No. 60 An Suong Street in HCM City said 1,300 students have registered to follow the training courses here, an increase of 30 percent over the previous year.

However, this proves to be the only “lucky” center which reports the increase I the number of learners. The receptionist at a center on To Hien Thanh Street said the number of registered students remains modest. Especially, the number of students who want to follow C-group exam (literature, history and geography) preparation classes is not enough to set up a class.

There are numerous exam preparation centers on Cay Tram, Nguyen Van Bao, Tran Thi Nghi on Go Vap Street in HCM City. However, students have been told to leave their addresses and telephone number for contact later, because the centers would only organize classes if they find enough learners.

The Do Thanh Exam Preparation Center on Dinh Bo Linh Street in Binh Thanh district has advertised that it would provide training courses to satisfy the students’ diversified demand. However, the students who attend the C-group exams can only attend literature lessons at the center, while they would have to go to other centers for history and geography classes.

A teacher of a high school in HCM City has noted that students nowadays have become “smart consumers.” They only go to prestigious training establishments, or they would prepare for exams by themselves at home.

The teacher has noted that the majority of urban students nowadays prefer learning via Internet. Possessing personal computers is now within the reach of the majority of the students in big cities. Therefore, they find it more convenient to seek information on Internet at any time they want than going to classes at fixed times.

Huan, a 12th grader in Hai Duong City, said he would leave for Hanoi in some days to learn about the school opportunities. However, he does not intend to go to exam preparation centers, but plans to stay with his uncle and prepare for the exams himself with the uncle’s computer.

“Everything we need can be found on the libraries on Internet, so no need to spend time and bear the summer heat to attend the classes at exam preparation centers,” he said.

“There are many reasons for me to choose the “Internet teacher”: I will not have to spend much time and much money on the teacher. Meanwhile, the banks of exam questions have been diversified every day,” Huan said.

Tran Le Bao Tram, a student of the Marie Curie High School in HCM City, said she would go to math class, but she would review physics, chemistry and biology lessons by herself with Internet.

onthi.net.vn, a well-known website to examinees, has reported more than 600,000 visitors so far this exam season. Meanwhile, hocmai.vn has had over 1 million members.

NLD