VietNamNet Bridge – The Prime Minister has asked the Minister of Education and Training to finalise and distribute directions for the organisation of next year's national high school exam.

The two examinations, currently held separately, will be combined into one national examination from 2015. - Photo: VNN

The call follows the start of the new academic year and comes as the ministry is yet to decide on one of three methods it proposed in July to radically overhaul the national high school exam and the university entrance exam.

The two examinations, currently held separately, will be combined into one national examination from 2015.

The results of the exam will determine whether students graduate from high school and their admission to tertiary education at a university, college or vocational training institution.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Bui Van Ga stressed that the new exam model needed to be a credible way of assessing students.

"If the results have no credibility, universities and colleges will have to organise their own entrance exam," Ga told Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper.

"It will be much more costly and very complicated."

The deputy minister said that the ministry had proposed measures to guarantee the credibility and fairness of the exam, which included allowing "officials of local departments of Education and Training as well as officers from high schools and universities to take part in the organisation of the exam."

Meanwhile, the PM has also voiced support for changes to exclusive control exercised by the Ministry of Education and Training over high school textbooks. The alternative textbooks would be used in parallel to those compiled by the ministry.

The Ministry of Education and Training is currently the sole publisher of textbooks used nationwide and is even considering shifting the role of composing textbooks to qualified businesses.

The reform plan is expected to be submitted to the National Assembly at the end of this year.

Source: VNS