Separate goals to reduce pressure on students and society

The 2025 high school graduation exam has ended for more than a week now, but the debates and concerns among the public have not shown any signs of cooling down. In particular, after many candidates reported that this year's exam, especially Math and English, had a level of difficulty beyond the ability of most candidates, the big question has once again been raised: is it time to seriously consider separating the high school graduation exam and the university entrance exam?

Báo Đồng Nai•05/07/2025

According to the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), this year's exam still follows the 2018 General Education Program and does not exceed the required requirements. The Ministry affirmed that the exam has differentiation to serve both the goals of high school graduation and university admission. However, many education experts and teachers believe that the task of having an exam simultaneously fulfill two functions: ensuring the minimum standards for graduation recognition and having enough differentiation to serve university admission is a contradictory one. Because, in order to classify good candidates, the exam must include questions of high difficulty, while if the goal is only graduation, those questions will become a barrier causing confusion and great pressure for the majority of students.

Separating the two functions: high school graduation recognition and university admission is a direction that needs to be seriously considered in the current context. At that time, the high school graduation exam will return to its true meaning as a universal, easy exam, reducing pressure for the majority of students. Meanwhile, universities with increasingly expanded autonomy will be able to design their own exams suitable for the specific characteristics of their training fields, while ensuring differentiation and fairness in selection.

In the context of Vietnam promoting comprehensive educational reform, maintaining a “2 in 1” exam has revealed many shortcomings. If there is no early adjustment, the consequences will not only be tears after the exam, but also a deviation in shaping educational goals: from a human-centered system to a system that pursues scores and rankings.

A humanistic education system cannot allow students to be exhausted by exams that are not in line with their learning goals. Continuing to combine two functions in a common exam will only put pressure on students, while distorting the goal of general education, which must prioritize comprehensive development, not just training for exams. It is time to courageously look back at reality, listen to the voices of students and society to make reasonable decisions for the High School Graduation Exam.

Minh Ngoc

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/202507/tach-bach-muc-tieu-de-giam-ap-luc-cho-hoc-sinh-va-xa-hoi-5e551a4/