The university entrance exams will come in just 10 days, and it is the time for examinees to gear up for preparing for the exams. Intensive training courses are burning hot these days.
Six learning shifts per day
The small alley on Xuan Thuy Road in Cau Giay district alone gathers nearly ten exam preparation centres. The centres are full of students these days who have to queue up for registering for the studying at intensive training classes, even though it is very hot in Hanoi.
“T”, a marketing officer of a center, said that many students have just arrived in Hanoi and they have been seeking for exam preparation centers. Therefore, the centres are still trying to collect students to increase profits.
In fact, the training courses have been opened since early June. However, many students only begin looking for exam preparation classes in big cities after they can be sure that they pass the high school final exams.
“The classes all have been full of students, but if students still want to attend the classes, we will try to arrange classes,” T said.
A lot of “marketing officers” stand all day long near learning centres to introduce the training courses to students. “D Center gathers the most prestigious teachers in Hanoi. If you attend the classes here, you will surely pass the exams. However, the tuition is relatively high, VND50,000 (USD2.4) per shift,” a marketing officer was seen explaining to a student, who said he had just come from Hai Duong.
The officer advised the student to register four learning shifts a day, each of which lasts 90 minutes, and if he wants to have additional lessons, he can register more classes. “Especially, if you pay money at once, you will get the 30 percent discount and enjoy a free test,” she told the student.
The tuitions seem to be lower at the learning centers on Nguyen Trai, Ta Quang Buu and Chua Boc. A student at the centres has to pay VND25,000-30,000 (USD1.2-USD1.5) per two-hour lesson.
The common thing of all exam preparation centres is that the centres open from early in the morning at 7.30 am until 9.30 pm. Meanwhile, a lot of students attend nearly all the learning shifts, because they believe that the more they learn, the deeper knowledge they would get. Moreover, they do not have much more time to learn, as the exams will come in 10 days.
Hung, who comes from Phu Tho and plans to attend C-group exams (literature, history and geography), said that previously, he only learned three shifts per day, but now he has decided to attend six shifts.
Especially, exam preparation centres all advertise that they have special classes, where students only do one thing – doing exam questions. Students have been persuaded that if they get used to doing exam questions, they will have more experiences to do actual exams.
“You should attend the high quality classes. The tuitions are high, but you can feel secure about the quality of the training,” a woman told a student at Ta Quang Buu exam preparation centre.
The woman explained that the high quality classes are the ones which only have a few students, which allow the teachers to take care for every student and learn about their capability. The students can learn in the rooms with air conditioners, for which every of them has to pay 200-300,000 per shift.
What are the exam preparation centres like?
A cramped 30 square meter was introduced the classroom for nearly 100 students. Five electric pans ran at full capacity, but they could not help cool down the room. The students here said they would attend two shifts in the afternoon, from 1.30 pm to 5 pm.
The classroom was chaotic. The teacher simply gave questions and answers, while he did not care what students did below. As it was too hot, some students fell asleep, while others made mobile messages or listened to music. Students could go in or out of the class spontaneously during the lessons.
