VietNamNet Bridge - Prof Van Nhu Cuong, a renowned educator, finds it surprising that thousands of primary school graduates got a perfect 10/10 score from the year-end Vietnamese language and math exams. 

The arguments about the quality of Vietnamese students and of general education have increased after Cuong said in a local newspaper that he finds it ‘abnormal’ that many students receive high exam scores at primary schools.

Cuong, who is the president of Luong The Vinh High School, a prestigious school in Hanoi, said there are too many "excellent" students, making it difficult to choose the best students.

A parent also commented on an education forum that Vietnamese students are ‘surprisingly excellent’ as they have a perfect score of 10/10 for their school work and exam papers. 

The parent, born in 1970, said in the past only a few students received title of ‘excellent students’ (i.e they got the GPA of 8.0 and higher) in every class. Now, the overwhelming majority of students are excellent students.

According to the Hanoi Education & Training Department, 80 percent of students are considered good and excellent  and 40 percent are excellent.

“Are Vietnamese students really excellent, or is the general education problematic?” she asked, adding that it is necessary to think about what she called ‘the 10 score inflation’.

However, the Hanoi education department does not think it is something ‘abnormal’ or ‘questionable’.

A senior official of the department said in the 2015-2016 academic year, 247,515 out of 617,181 students got 10/10 from math exam and 143,570 students got 10/10 from Vietnamese language year-end exams 

According to the Hanoi Education & Training Department, 80 percent of students are considered good and excellent  and 40 percent are excellent.

The figures were 264,207 and 167,306 students, respectively, out of 584,421 students in the 2014-2015 academic year.

The official said the candidates applying for studying at Luong The Vinh School are from over 100 primary schools in all districts in the inner city and suburbs. Thus, the high number of excellent students is understandable.

Le Thu Ha, an enrollment officer of a secondary school in Hanoi, said though her school is not among the most prestigious schools, many candidates applying for her school are excellent students, while some of them have won top prizes at the city’s competitions.

“50-60 percent of students applying for our school were excellent students at primary schools,” she said, adding that there was no need to doubt students’ capability.

Vietnamese parents, whose incomes have improved, are willing to pay for extra training courses for their children, when has helped them excel. 

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