VietNamNet Bridge - Assessing the national exam which took place on July 1-4, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) said it was ‘safe and serious’. However, some educators disagreed.

The 2-in-1 national exam was a revolutionary step in Vietnam’s education and examination system. First, helped make the national exam less stressful for students. Second, it was expected to help reduce state and parents’ spending on examinations.

However, Professor Van Nhu Cuong, a renowned educator, noted that exam remains very stressful for students and their parents. 

They began feeling the pressure when the new academic year began and MOET announced the 2-in-1 exam.

The problem is that too many decisions were released which confused students. Final decisions were only released several months before the official exam was organized, which means that students did not have much time to prepare for the most important exam in their lives.

A high school teacher in Hanoi noted that the second target of the revolution has been reached. 

The exam was too costly for the state and parents. Local authorities, volunteers, and the police all were mobilized for the four-day exam organization. The national exam involved the whole society.

Regarding the expenses on exam, a lot of parents commented that they were nearly the same as previous years. 

Students have to spend four days on the exam, even though they only have several exam subjects. For example, the students registering to sit history exams could only enter the exam room on the last day of the exam, and sat idle on the second and third days in cities.

Cuong also found problems in the way exam questions were designed. The math questions were easy for students and they were even easier than the questions raised for a 15-minute test at school. The questions for other exam subjects were also very easy, which teachers believe 99 percent of students could solve.

Cuong said students just need to obtain basic knowledge to be recognized as finishing general education. He agrees that the questions need to be easy enough for the majority of students to solve.

However, as the questions are too easy, it will be impossible for universities to select the best students to enroll. 

“I think many problems exist in the 2-in-1 exam model,” Cuong said.

A math teacher at Einstein High School in Hanoi also noted that universities would need additional tests or exams to select the best students for higher education. 

The testing model applied by the Hanoi National University in 2015 has been recommended.

GDVN