10th Grade Admissions: Top and bottom schools are both lacking students

Candidates admitted to grade 10 public schools in Ho Chi Minh City have completed the confirmation and submitted their applications to high schools in Ho Chi Minh City. According to Thanh Nien reporters, all schools, whether top or bottom, are short of students compared to the initial quota.

Currently, schools are reviewing and reporting the situation so that the HCM City Department of Education and Training can develop a plan for additional recruitment if necessary.

TOP SCHOOLS HAVE MORE STUDENT SHORTAGES THAN LATE SCHOOLS

According to Linh Trung High School (Linh Xuan Ward, old Thu Duc City), with the target of 810 students for grade 10 in the 2025-2026 school year, the school has so far received about 790 applications from successful candidates. Mr. Le Thanh Hieu, Principal of Linh Trung High School, said that the school is still waiting for information from the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City to implement the school's additional recruitment plan. If additional recruitment is allowed, the school will only propose to recruit about 20 students. "This year, many schools will have a shortage of enrollment compared to the plan. However, how to allocate the additional enrollment quota appropriately, for the benefit of candidates, we must wait for the official plan from the Department of Education and Training," said Mr. Hieu.

At Binh Tan High School (Tan Tao Ward, old Binh Tan District), Principal Nguyen Thi Kim Hue informed that the school's admission list had 670 students, of which 646 students submitted their admission applications, meaning there were still 24 students missing. According to the regulations of the Department of Education and Training, the school reported the number and proposed a plan for additional recruitment.

For Nguyen Thi Dieu High School (Xuan Hoa Ward, old District 3), according to the allocated quota, the school recruits 765 students for 17 classes. Principal Duong Van Thu said that the school is still short of 17 students compared to the assigned quota. However, "with the insignificant shortage, if possible, the school will propose not to recruit additional students to reduce the number of students and improve the quality of training", Mr. Thu said.

Under-enrollment of students is increasing sharply at top high schools.

Mr. Lam Trieu Nghi, Principal of Nguyen Thuong Hien High School (Tan Son Nhat Ward, old Tan Binh District), informed that this year, the number of students enrolled was 3 classes short, about 100 students compared to the enrollment target of 15 classes. The number of students missing this year doubled compared to the 2024 enrollment season. The school has reported and is waiting for the Department of Education and Training to announce the additional enrollment plan in the near future.

Similarly, Mr. Nguyen Van Ba, Vice Principal of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School (Xuan Hoa Ward), said that the school was short about 50 students after the end of the application period. On the last day before the deadline for completing the admission procedures, the school contacted each parent and student on the admission list, but they had already enrolled in other learning models.

Students admitted to grade 10 in Ho Chi Minh City complete admission procedures

PHOTO: DAO NGOC THACH

Also according to confirmed information from Nguyen Huu Huan High School (Thu Duc Ward), the school was assigned to enroll 15 grade 10 students, after the end of the enrollment period, the school was still "short" about 20 students. The school will report the number to the Department of Education and Training and implement the additional enrollment plan if any.

Mr. Lam Trieu Nghi explained that students admitted to top schools often have more options than students in schools with average admission scores. For example, with Nguyen Thuong Hien High School, after contacting parents, it was learned that students admitted to the school but did not enroll because some students were admitted to the Gifted High School (Ho Chi Minh City National University), some transferred to private schools according to their families' orientation. In addition, some candidates are 9th grade students from non-public schools who registered for the 10th grade exam at public schools, but after being admitted, the public school did not organize boarding, so they continued to study at private schools.

RECRUITMENT IS STILL DIFFICULT TO FIND RECRUITMENT SOURCES, WHY?

Last school year, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training also announced the recruitment of about 2,000 additional students for 36 high schools. The conditions for participating in the additional recruitment are that students have not passed any of their wishes to public high schools and must have a grade 10 exam score in 3 subjects: math, literature, foreign language and priority points (if any) greater than or equal to the standard score of the 3rd wish of the public high school they want to register for. Each student can only register for additional recruitment at one public high school that has not yet recruited enough students and cannot change schools after submitting the application for additional recruitment.

For students who have studied at secondary schools in the districts of Can Gio, Nha Be, Binh Chanh, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi and Thu Duc City before, if they register for schools in the same area as the secondary school, the total entrance exam score of the candidate will be considered according to the standard score of the first choice of the public high school they want to register for admission.

A member of the board of directors of a top high school expressed that this year, if the regulations on additional recruitment were applied like last year, top schools would hardly be able to recruit enough students. Because at these schools, the standard score for the first choice is already around 23, if considering the score for the third choice, it would be at least around 23.5 points or higher, even Nguyen Thi Minh Khai School is 24.75 points or Nguyen Thuong Hien School is 24.5 points... With this score, there are almost no candidates who have not been admitted to public schools.

Mr. Lam Trieu Nghi cited that in the 2024 enrollment season, the school was short about 40 students compared to the target. Despite the widespread announcement of additional enrollment, the school did not receive any applications.

Instructions for students admitted to grade 10 to choose appropriate elective subjects in the 2018 General Education Program

Photo: Dao Ngoc Thach

WILL BUILD SUITABLE ADDITIONAL RECRUITMENT PLAN

According to regulations, after 10th grade students complete their admission application and schools complete reporting data to the Department of Education and Training, depending on the actual number of students at each school, the Department will develop a second round of enrollment plan for schools that have not yet met their enrollment quota.

A leader of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training said that high schools are in the process of reporting their records, the actual number of students enrolled, and making proposals for additional recruitment for their schools. Based on the specific proposals of each school, the Department will develop and propose the most suitable additional recruitment plan, creating conditions for students to study at public schools. At the same time, after each enrollment period, the Department of Education and Training will grasp the situation to make appropriate, fair, responsive adjustments and for the maximum benefit of the city's students.

Students entering private schools also decreased.

Ms. Nguyen Yen Chi, representative of Nguyen Khuyen and Le Thanh Tong Private High Schools - a non-public school system in Ho Chi Minh City, said that the school has completed enrollment for grade 10 for the 2025-2026 school year. Since the beginning of June, the school has received interest from parents who want their children to study at the school because it is suitable and meets the orientation of each family.

However, Ms. Yen Chi said that due to the decrease in the number of 9th grade students, the high enrollment quota for public high schools, accounting for about 90%, has somewhat affected the number of students enrolling at Nguyen Khuyen and Le Thanh Tong schools. She said that according to statistics from the academic affairs and enrollment department, the number of 10th grade students enrolling at the school this year has decreased by 7-10%.

Similarly, Mr. Huynh Kim Tuan, Principal of Tran Cao Van Secondary and High School system, shared that so far the school has recruited about 50% of the 10th grade enrollment target approved by the Department of Education and Training. This is also the general situation of most non-public schools this year due to the impact of population. Therefore, the school focuses on conditions and activities in this school year to prepare for the enrollment plan for the 2026-2027 school year when the scale and number of students return to normal.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tuyen-sinh-lop-10-truong-top-dau-hay-top-sau-deu-thieu-hoc-sinh-185250724201005843.htm