The Hanoi Department of Education and Training announced the results of a quality survey for nearly 120,000 12th grade students, conducted last month. Mr. Ha Xuan Nham, Head of the Secondary Education Department, presented these findings at a conference on grade-level enrollment and high school graduation exams on the morning of 2/4.
Mr. Nham highlighted mathematics as the most significant challenge, with the average student score at 4.75. This marks a 0.35-point decrease compared to last year's survey. Public schools experienced an even sharper decline, with scores dropping by nearly 0.5 points.
A deeper analysis revealed that the math score distribution is skewed left, with over 40% of students scoring between 3 and 5 points. Notably, no student achieved a perfect 10 in the subject. When examined by school type, public school students averaged 5.37 points, private school students 4.42 points, and continuing education students scored only 2.75 points in mathematics.
Among individual schools, Nguyen Hue specialized high school students recorded the highest average math score at 7.2. Other schools with average math scores above 7 included specialized Hanoi - Amsterdam, Kim Lien, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Le Quy Don, and Ha Dong.
Conversely, several public schools had average math scores below 4, such as Tu Lap, Bat Bat, Luu Hoang, Ung Hoa B, Hop Thanh, and Tho Xuan. Some private schools performed even lower, with average math scores below 3, including Dang Tien Dong, Nguyen Thuong Hien, Ngo Sy Lien, Hong Duc, and Nguyen Truc.
According to Mr. Nham, a primary reason for the low math scores is students' insufficient adaptation to the true/false and short answer multiple-choice formats. Beyond mathematics, Mr. Nham also noted a sharp decline in average English scores, which plummeted from 6.28 to 5.45, a difference of over 0.8 points from last year. Many other subjects, including physics, biology, history, geography, economic and legal education, and industrial agriculture, also saw reduced survey scores.
Despite being a popular subject choice with nearly 40,000 students, geography recorded the lowest average score at 4.12, indicating a significant mismatch in quality, according to the Department's assessment.
In response to these findings, Mr. Nham urged schools to "seriously face the results, not avoid them". He recommended that schools review and categorize students into three groups for tailored remedial plans: those at risk of failing graduation, average students, and good and excellent students. For foundational subjects like mathematics, schools must organize mandatory remedial classes for below-average students and track their results weekly.
The Department will soon hold individual meetings with underperforming schools to identify specific solutions and improve student quality ahead of the high school graduation exam.
Last year, over 120,000 Hanoi students participated in the high school graduation exam, accounting for about one-tenth of the national total. The capital's students achieved an average math score of 5.29, ranking 2nd out of 34 provinces and cities, just behind Ninh Binh's 5.42.
Thanh Hang
