Students in Hanoi and HCM City have been gearing up in the sprint stage to intensively prepare for the entrance exams for high schools for the gifted.

The race begins

A working day of Quoc Anh, a student of the Tran Phu Secondary School in district 10 in HCM City begins with the five learning periods at school. He gets home at 12 pm and only has one hour to have lunch and take a nap. He leaves home again at 1 pm for the private tutoring class in Tan Binh district.

At 6 pm, Anh needs to be present at the Ly Tu Trong Knowledge Cultivation Center, where he spends time on one more learning shift which finishes at 8.30 pm. Reaching home at 9 pm, Anh has dinner and then does home exercises and prepare for the next morning’s lessons.

Quoc Anh has to learn hard these days, because he intends to attend the entrance exams to the Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, a famous school in HCM City.

Quoc Anh and thousands of other students in HCM City and Hanoi have decided that they need to enroll in the schools for the gifted, at any cost. They believe that if they have the opportunities to go to the schools, they would have bigger opportunities to pass the university entrance exams. Meanwhile, following university education is the dream of every Vietnamese student.

Meanwhile, Mai Van, a parent in district 3 in HCM City, said that her eldest children graduated from Nguyen Thuong Hien School; therefore, she wants the youngest daughter to go to the school as well.

“We have sent the daughter to the best teachers in HCM City. We have told her that passing the exams to the school is a must,” Van said.

Minh Tuan, a parent in district 5, said that he has ordered his son to pass the exams to Le Hong Phong School. Tuan said that he himself is a graduate from the school, and he has been succeeding in his career. Therefore, he believes that becoming a student of Le Hong Phong School is the best way for his son.

“I told him that I would be ashamed if he fails the exams,” he said.

Most secondary school graduates wish to continue their study at state owned high schools. N, Headmaster of a people-founded school in HCM City, admitted that the school can only enroll students from other provinces instead of HCM City, though the school has good material facilities and prestigious teachers, including university lecturers.

“100 percent of our students pass the final exams, with a high percentage of students passing the university entrance exams every year. However, enrolling in people founded schools proves to be the last choice for students,” he said.

Parents and students have to think carefully before choosing high schools. As students all want to enroll in state owned schools, they need to consider their ability and the requirements of the schools to make reasonable decisions.

Phuong Anh in Ba Dinh district in Hanoi complained that her son is not good at literature; therefore, she decided to attend the exams to Pham Hong Thai School. In case he fails the exams, he wishes to enter Tay Ho High School as his second choice.

“It would be better to choose the schools which fit my child’s ability. I don’t want him to get disappointed if he fails the exams to famous schools,” she said.

Source: VNN