Asking children to take psychological tests, examining their health, and testing their ability to communicate in foreign languages are things people-founded schools do when selecting students for their 1st classes.

However, Thanh was told that her son must pass the compulsory tests first.

In order to help him prepare for the tests, Thanh has to take him to pre-1^st classes, three months before the tests.

The pre-1^st classes opened in early March. There are 28 such classes, and each of them has over 30 students. Thanh related that students go to the school once a week, on Saturday, to get used to the new school. Students can learn there for one, two or three months, and the tuition is VND450,000 a month.

Another people-founded school in Trung Hoa-Nhan Chinh urban area requires students to be 20 kg in weight at least to be eligible to be enrolled in the school.

The requirement worries Van Anh in Dong Da district. Anh has just a few more months to increase the weight of her son, and she is not sure if the son’s weight can increase by 2kg in the short time.

The Nguyen Sieu People-founded School in Ba Dinh has a special way of testing students.

Students who register to study at Nguyen Sieu first have to get their health examined. After that they need to communicate with teachers and other children, and talk with foreign teachers who will check their English skills.

A representative of the school said that students need to have A-grade health (with weight of 19kg and higher), have no disease and meet the requirements set in the children’s development programme.

Nguyen Thi Hien, Headmaster of the Doan Thi Diem People-founded School, said that tests have been compulsory for the past few years.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Thi Diep, Head of the Ly Thai To People-founded School in Cau Giay district, when explaining the requirement on 20kg in weight, said that only with that weight could children have the health necessary to study well.

Students fail exams before going to school

According to Nguyen Dinh Xuan, Head of the Experimental Primary School under the Education Science Institute, that school has to test students before receiving them as it is allowed to receive 140 students only for 1^st classes. Meanwhile, every year, 400-500 students register and sit for tests.

As a result, this has created the situation that many students are failing exams even before they go to school.

As Doan Thi Diem, Ly Thai To and Nguyen Sieu private schools offer advantages in education, especially English skill training, a lot of parents want to send their children to the schools.

However, the schools cannot meet the desire of all parents. Hien from Doan Thi Diem School said that in 1993-1994, only 27 students were accepted of 100 registered students. In 2008-2009, the school received 510 of 1,000.

As for Nguyen Sieu School, it enrolled only 140 students for 1^st classes last year, after testing 400. Meanwhile, the school plans to enroll 120 students only this year.

Bao Anh