High school students, teachers, and even parents all feel happy when for a third consecutive year geography has been unexpectedly included in the six compulsory subjects for the high school graduation exam in early June.

The other subjects are math, literature, a foreign language, physics, and biology.

High schools will benefit a lot when students are required to take a test on geography this year since much experience gained from the previous two tests will be used this time, said Vo Thi Thu Ha, a teacher of geography at Tran Phu High School in Hanoi.

Meanwhile, Dinh Tien Hoang High School in the capital had asked its teachers to prepare their students for all of the compulsory subjects so they would be all ready for any before the announcement, headmaster Nguyen Tung Lam told Tuoi Tre.

Students will have a better chance to earn good scores in geography and they will not need too much rote learning like in history with all those historical dates and events, Nguyen Thanh Uyen, a mother of a twelfth grader of Thang Long High School in the capital, said.

It was a stroke of luck the ministry chose geography instead of history, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Nguyen Thu Hoai, a student at Yen Hoa High School in the northern city, said her classmates felt relieved to hear from their teacher that history is not part of the sextet, adding they all find it more interesting to take a test on geography with all the practical knowledge.

Without history, students deem it easier to pass the upcoming graduation exam, according to Tran Thi Thai, a geography teacher at Bui Thi Xuan High School in Ho Chi Minh City.

It is also an advantage that students can both prepare for the graduation tests and the university entrance exam in early July at the same time since the latter will have tests on those subjects as well, she added.

Geography will bring less pressure, remarked Le Van Anh, headmaster of Tay Thanh High School in the southern hub.

But the school will still need help from parents in terms of preparing its students for the important exam, he noted.

Source: Tuoi Tre