VietNamNet Bridge – High school students are up to their necks in work these days preparing for final exams to take place in early June. They are working to the point of exhaustion.

Huynh Cong Minh, Director of the HCM City Education and Training Department said that the schools in the city are planning to organize mock exams to prepare students for the actual exam. “Mock exams will be held until Vietnam has the high school final exam,” he said. “We will only stop mock exams when the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) decides to stop high school finals”.

Meanwhile, leaders of the Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Nam Dinh and Da Nang Education and Training Departments all said that the schools in the localities do not organize mock exams, because the exams may make students too tired and frightened.

More exams, more pressure

Having 100 percent of students passing the high school final exam is the goal for all high schools. Therefore, schools have forced students to follow intensive learning schedules since March 23, after MOET announced the exam subjects.

Tuoi tre has reported that at some schools in HCM City, students have intensive learning schedules with no break time. The students, especially the ones who are in danger of failing the final exam, have to study with teachers from the morning to the evening.

In the morning of April 1, a 12^th grader of Huu Hau private school was taken to a healthcare center right after he finished the history test. The superintendent said the student was too worried about the exam, therefore, he felt tired and frightened.

At noon on April 1, 12^th graders of Hoang Dieu private School were seen having lunch and then taking a short nap before they started lessons again at 1.30 pm. Everyday, students at the school have exam preparation lessons in both the morning and afternoon. After that, students have to study their lessons themselves.

The Thanh Binh private school has set a goal that 100 percent of 12^th graders will pass the finals. Therefore, the school’s board of management has asked students to study extra hours to best prepare for the exam. Besides, the school plans to organize nine exams throughout the academic year in order to assess students’ capabilities.

A lot of students joke and call each other “industrial bred chickens” because they have to are fed exam materials like they are machines and have little time to engage in other activities.

Several years ago, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan, who was then also the Minister of Education and Training, called on educators and students to say “no” to the so called “achievement disease”, i.e schools must not try to obtain achievements at any costs. However, educators have affirmed that the “disease” still exists. Schools have to force students to study hard, because if students do not pass exams, the schools will be listed as bad schools that cannot enroll students.

Exams too costly

Vu Dinh Chuan, Director of MOET’s Secondary Education Department, said that mock exams are very important because students can become familiar with the structure of the exam and develop the necessary skills to answer exam questions. However, he admitted that too many mock exams and tests will burden students psychologically.

Director of the Bac Ninh province’s Education and Training Department Dang Van Huong said the department has decided not to organize mock exams in order to ease the burden on students. Once attending mock exams, students will have to bear substantial pressure, while they will also have to pay money.

Deputy Director of the Da Nang Education and Training Department Nguyen Minh Hung also thinks that students have to take too many exams within a short period of time, which is really a burden on them.

Nguyen Hien