Vietnam education minister promises to strictly punish infringers in exam scandal

Tuan Minh 19:37, 2018/07/26

The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) has opened an investigation into the recent high school exam scandal in Ha Giang and Son La provinces, one of the most notorious scams in the Vietnamese education system.

The The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) will review and evaluate the work of the national high school examination in 2018 in the spirit of honesty, to minimize cheating scandals in future examinations, and strictly deal with infringers, Minister Phung Xuan Nha said in an interview with national TV station after a notorious cheating scam in two northern provinces.

Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha

Particularly, the ministry will clarify responsibilities of violating organizations and individuals for handling according to legal regulations and provisions. Strict punishment will have the effect of deterring officials directly involving in the examinations in the years ahead, the minister stressed.

Nha said his ministry will improve the quality of test questions to better serve both purposes of the exam that will determine whether students can graduate from high schools and win a seat in a college or a university.

At the mean time, the MoET will complete the grading process, ensuring the honesty and objectivity of exam results, Nha emphasized.

After the public comments about the abnormal exam results in Ha Giang province, the MoET immediately set up a working group to direct the verification of abnormal signs in Ha Giang and Son La provinces, where cheating has been found, the minister said.

Bringing justice to students and regaining public confidence is what the MoET must do. The ministry has worked with the highest determination in recent days, he added.

Nha said the ministry was dealing with serious wrongdoings in Ha Giang and Son La in accordance with the examinations and legal regulations.

Ha Giang province’s police have issued criminal proceedings in the case and examiners involved in the scandal, he said, asking the local authorities to remove them from the education sector.

The final exam was conducted by 5,400 students in Ha Giang. Of the 11 students with the highest scores across the country, the province has three, and 65 other students scored nine points or higher in the physics test.

The abnormal results prompted many people to question the results, as the province often does not perform so well. The inspections showed that the 330 test scores of 114 students in Ha Giang were adjusted to increase by more than one point each.

Son La had more than 10,300 students taking part in the national high school graduation exam in 2018 with the average score of 4.21 points, the lowest in the country. However, the proportion of pupils in the province achieved nine or more points in maths and physics outperformed other localities with better traditional performance.

In Vietnam, results of the national high school graduation exams can be used to determine whether the applicants are qualified for certain universities and colleges. The most demanded universities require the total score of three subjects to mount to nearly 30 points.

The MoET has issued a written request to the high school examination committee for the provinces and cities directly under the central government to promptly review and evaluate the process of organizing examinations in the localities, minister Nha said.

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