VietNamNet Bridge - To compete for high pass rates in the high school graduation exam to be held nationwide in June, many high schools in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are forcing their students to cram.

A parent complained that her child, a student at Nguyen Trai Public High School in HCMC’s District 4, had been studying for the exam from 6:30 am to 8:30 pm every day at school.

“Other parents and I have asked the school to cut down on these cramming sessions,” the parent, who wanted to remain anonymous, told Tuoi Tre. “But they said they couldn’t risk their pass rate.”

According to this parent, Nguyen Trai gathers its twelfth graders every morning in the schoolyard and tells them to recite their lessons until they memorize them.

A similar race for a high pass rate is also happening at Tan Phong Public High School in District 7.

Tan Phong’s Principal Pham Van Tien admitted his school was trying to achieve a pass rate of 85% this year so it asked students, especially those with poor academic records, to take extra classes as early as last fall.

The Tan Binh Continuing Education Center similarly forces students to take cramming sessions and locks them in until they have learned their lessons by heart.

At private high schools in HCMC, cramming is even more ferocious, since their enrollment next year depends on their pass rates this year.

And in Hanoi, extra-curricular activities and weekend are being sacrificed for cramming sessions.

A mother of a student at Tran Nhan Tong High School in Hai Ba Trung District said since February, her child had had to attend cramming sessions every week day and take sample exams on Saturday and Sunday.

Bui Thi Minh Nga, Vice Principal of Tran Phu High School in Hoan Kiem District admitted her school had also asked teachers to give extra classed during weekend.

Dinh Tien Hoang Private High School’s Principal Nguyen Tung Lam said his twelfth graders started taking cramming sessions on math, literature, and foreign languages early last month.

From now until May, twelfth graders citywide will have to sit for numerous sample exams in order to get used to the pressure of the upcoming graduation exam.

A principal in HCMC said high schools had no other choice since higher education authorities didn’t tolerate low pass rates.

Meanwhile, in Hanoi, Doan Hoai Vinh, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training said his department wouldn’t tolerate any school that forces its students to cram.

Source: Tuoi tre