Over 97 per cent of students sitting the national high school examination in late June were eligible for graduation, the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) announced yesterday.

More than 879,700 students took this year’s exam to seek high school graduation.

The ministry said the graduation rate was 98.36 per cent in the high school education system, and 88.37 percent in adult learning centres and courses for people who had left school.

The provinces of Thái Bình, Nam Định, Hà Nam and Bắc Ninh in the north and Long An and Vinh Long in the south exceeded 99 per cent.

Less privileged provinces such as Cao Bằng,l Quảng Ngãi and Ninh Thuận recorded a graduation rate of over 92 percent, while the northernmost province of Hà Giang fell to 89.35 percent.

The MoET said the graduation rate reflected students’ performances, the quality of educational and careful exam invigilation and marking.

More than 879,700 students took this year’s exam to seek high school graduation. They included nearly 810,400 high school students and over 69,300 others on other courses.

Candidates were tested in maths, literature, foreign language, natural science (including physics, chemistry and biology) and social science (including history, geography and citizen education). All the tests were in a multiple-choice format except for literature.

The test results are also used for university entrance applications.

Since 2015, the high school graduation and university entrance exams have been combined into one national exam. The national high school examininations in 2015 saw graduation rates of over 90 per cent, while the rate in 2016 and 2017 was about 98-99 per cent.  — VNS