The investigation bureau of the Ha Giang police has started criminal proceedings against the exam cheating scandal in the northern mountainous province, the Ministry of Public Security announced on July 19.

The decision on the matter was made the same day on the basis of the fact that results of the national high school examination, which determine whether students can enter universities and were released on July 11, show suspicious signs as the rate of good scores in Ha Giang is unusually high compared with the previous years and other localities that traditionally do better.

On July 13, the Authority of Examination and Quality Management under the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) decided to set up an inspection team.

The inspection revealed that 330 multiple-choice testsheets of 114 students in Ha Giang were adjusted up over 1.0 point each. 

The result of national high school examinations have been used for four years now to determine if a student graduates from high school and gets into their dream university or not.

Since 2017, the multi-choice form has been applied to all tests except for literature. In 2018, MoET tightened the exam’s security by sealing bags of answer sheets with signatures of supervisors and universities’ representatives.

The last examination was taken by 5,400 Ha Giang students. In the top 11 students nationwide with highest scores, the province contributed three. -VNA