In previous years, students had six exam subjects for finals, and all of the subjects were compulsory. These included math, literature and foreign languages, and three others determined every year by MOET.

Students now have only four exam subjects, including two compulsory ones, math and literature, and two optional ones.

This regulation is believed to help ease the burden on students.

Tran Trung Hieu, a history teacher of the Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted in Nghe An Province, also thinks that with the new regulation, students will only spend time on four subjects.

If so, the students, who prepare to attend entrance exams to natural science schools will not have necessary knowledge about social sciences, while those who want to follow social studies, will only focus on literature, history and geography, as they don’t care about physics or chemistry.

“It’d be better if MOET tells students to choose the subject exams in the two groups – either the group of natural science subjects (physics, chemistry and biology) or social sciences (history, geography and foreign languages),” Hieu suggested.

MOET said they hoped the reforms would help ease the pressure on students and teachers, and cut down expenses.

In the past, MOET had to arrange invigilators for six exam subjects, while it now has to arrange invigilators for eight exam subjects.

Instead of compiling exam questions for six subjects, it now has to raise questions for eight subjects. In some cases, dozens of invigilators, secretaries and security guards have to work just to serve one examinee because only one student in the locality chose the exam subject.

Hieu commented that students were “wise” when they did not choose history as their optional exam subject because this is a difficult subject that requires students to have a good memory. However, this fact should be seen as an alarm bell to the educational system.