WORDS ON THE STREET 70th anniversary of Hanoi's Liberation Day Vietnam - Asia 2023 Smart City Summit Hanoi celebrates 15 years of administrative boundary adjustment 12th Vietnam-France decentrialized cooperation conference 31st Sea Games - Vietnam 2021 Covid-19 Pandemic
Jul 18, 2018 / 11:54

PM orders severe punishments for Ha Giang's exam cheating scandal

This is one of the most notorious scams in the Vietnamese education system as winning a seat in a prestigious university is always a dream for students and their families.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has assigned the Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) and the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) to open an investigation into the recent high school exam scandal in the northern province of Ha Giang and strictly handle the case.

The PM's request came after the MoET and the Ha Giang People's Committee on July 17 afternoon officially announced the details of violations found at the annual national high school examinations in the province.
 
Ha Giang's score of mathematics from 9 is abnormal, compared to other provinces and cities with good teaching and learning traditions. Photo: Vietnamnet
Ha Giang's score of mathematics from 9 is abnormal, compared to other provinces and cities with good teaching and learning traditions. Photo: Vietnamnet
After the public comments about the abnormal exam results in Ha Giang, the MoET and MoPS set up a working group to direct the verification of abnormal signs in the province.

There were 114 contestants and more than 330 entries with a total score of one point or higher than those of the the revised checks.

Many contestants have total score of over 20 points higher than the revised mark. In particular, there are candidates who score up to 26.8 points, even 29.95 points higher than the revised mark.

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.

These violations were carried out by Vu Trong Luong, said deputy chief of the Examination and Quality Management Division under the Ha Giang Department of Education and Training.

​Nguyen Cao Khuong from the Ministry of Public Security said Luong was mainly responsible for scanning answer sheets into a computer and then sending the database of results to the MoET. Luong took advantage of his position to download the database of tests to his personal computer.

According to the inspection team, Luong was in charge of transferring two boxes of multiple-choice answer sheets and a computer to the provincial Department of Education and Training. In only two hours, he broke the seal, pulled answer sheets out and altered answers.

Therefore, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc assigned MoPS and MoET to direct the investigation and strictly handle violations in accordance with the law.

At the same time, the PM noted that MoET needs to promote the advantages of the national high school examination in the past few years and keeps reviewing and completing technical procedures to ensure close, objective and transparent supervision to all steps of the national high school examination.

Mai Van Trinh, head of the Authority of Examination and Quality Management under MoET stressed that what happened in Ha Giang was terrible but it does not mean the province needs to change the examination which is approved of by many people. In the coming years, the ministry will come up with solutions to improve it.

It is unknown whether the MoET will carry out a review of the examinations in other provinces.