VietNamNet Bridge - The officials of the Dong Nai provincial Education and Training Department mistakenly said that Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan are two 10 provinces in Mekong River Delta.

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The 12th graders of the Dong Nai province were surprised when reading the literature questions raised to them at the second semester exam.

One of the questions asked students to write an essay with 400 words about climate change in Vietnam and its effects to the country.

However, what surprised students was the beginning of the question, which was an excerpt from an online newspaper.

“To date, 12 provinces have declared the natural calamity - drought and saline intrusion – including 10 provinces in Mekong River Delta, namely Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Kien Giang, Soc Trang, Long An, Ca Mau, Vinh Long, Tra Vinh, Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan, and two provinces in the Central Highlands, namely Gia Lai and Kon Tum,” it reads.

Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan are located in the south of the central region of Vietnam.

Phan Dinh Chuong, chief secretariat of the Dong Nai provincial Education and Training Department, on April 13 stated that the mistake, though it was made, did not affect students’ works.

Therefore, Chuong believes that there is no need to organize the literature exam for 12th graders again.

Chuong said it was the mistake of a department’s officer in charge of literature who did not thoroughly check the exam questions, while the critics also did not find the mistake.

“These are just mistakes in geographical knowledge made in literature exam. However, the education department will still discipline the officer,” he said, adding that the officer has been asked to write a report about the case.

After that, all the officers who were involved in the case, including the head of the secondary education division, and the department’s leaders in charge of the division will also be responsible for the mistake.

The explanation by the senior official that it was just ‘mistake in geographical knowledge in a literature exam’ could not calm the public down. The headmaster of a high school in HCM City commented that though the mistake did not cause serious consequences, it has badly affected the educators’ prestige.

Duc Minh, a reader, commented about the case: “The teachers are ignorant or irresponsible, or both. This is why society disregards them.”

A reader with nickname ‘maiyeuem’ commented that this  was a‘disgrace’ of the Dong Nai provincial Education and Training Department, calling on to dismiss the officer who raised the questions.

However, ‘quynhutra’ commented that one should not blame the officer, because he simply quoted Nhan Dan online newspaper.

GDVN