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Health & Education
Dec 22, 2017 / 18:30

Foreign language not considered to included in high school entrance exam

Nguyen Tung - Trung Anh

It is stated that as of the academic year 2018 – 2019, Hanoi will organize the high school entrance exam with 3 compulsory subjects of mathematics, literature and foreign language, instead of only mathematics and literature as before.

As such, this information has caused concern among parents. Vice Director of Hanoi Training & Education Department Pham Van Dai said, implementing new plan for exam must be informed to the public from 1 – 2 years in advance. With this being said, any change during the exam must be carefully considered and ensure its feasibility. The process then must be consulted by the public and related administrative agencies. Only when the new plan has been discussed and approved, then an implementation phase is considered. 
 
An English class in Quang Trung Preliminary School in Hanoi.
An English class in Quang Trung Preliminary School in Hanoi.
At present, Hanoi does not consider to include foreign language as a third compulsory subject in the national high school entrance exam for the academic year 2018 – 2019. For students at normal 10th grade class, the Hanoi Training & Education Department gave permission for students to either choose taking exam or going through evaluation process. Hanoi will also organize a high school entrance exam for all high schools in Hanoi with two compulsory subjects of literature and mathematics. Students apply for selective classes of 4 high schools for gifted students in Hanoi including Hanoi Amsterdam, Chu Van An, Nguyen Hue or Son Tay will have to take additional subjects of foreign language and another subject required for each selective class in June 10 and 11/2018.

Despite Hanoi has not considered taking foreign language into the high school entrance exam, many are in favor of this move as a necessary step to improve education quality and global integration. 

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tam, teacher at Tan Hung Middle school in Soc Son, Hanoi agreed with the alternative of taking foreign language as the third subject in high school entrance exam in Hanoi. As foreign language is a vital instrument for daily communication for students, especially in Hanoi. “If this action is not taken, it will be difficult for students to meet high requirement of the society. Moreover, when students move up to university, they will have to take classes in English, therefore, if they do not prepare right at the beginning, English will be a real challenge for them in their future study” – Tam said. 

Sharing the same view, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hong, former teacher at the University of Languages and International Studies said, improving foreign language skill for students is necessary and also what the Hanoi Training & Education Department should aim to. However, for students to be well-prepared, Hanoi can inform the inclusion of foreign language in the high school entrance exam for academic year 2019 – 2020. This view is supported by the Principal of Viet Duc High school Nguyen Quoc Binh: “I think Hanoi can take foreign language as a compulsory subject for the high school entrance exam. At present, teaching foreign language in Hanoi is progressing. However, there remain differences between school in Hanoi center and suburban area. As such, there should be a road map with detailed plan” – Binh shared. 

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