VietNamNet Bridge – Adjusting the method of marking exam papers, giving questions and answers to students before the exams, raising students’ marks are the things many general schools do to “produce” more good and excellent students and embellish the schools’ achievement records.

The Hung Vuong High School

Local newspapers some days ago reported that the Hung Vuong High School did an uncommon thing – changing the method of marking exam papers, because its students were too bad.

A teacher of the school revealed that she was asked to do an absurdity – giving more marks to easy questions and less marks to difficult questions. With this “new method,” students just need to give true answers to the easy questions to be able to get above average marks and pass the exams.

Nguyen Tan Loc, Headmaster of the Hung Vuong High School, has confirmed this, explaining that the decision was made after the teachers, who marked the math exam papers, reported that only 30 percent of 10th graders of the school got 5 and more.

If the school had not adjusted the marking method, 70 percent of students would have got below five, or average mark, which would displease the parents.

The decision, which was believed to “help” students improve their learning records, was not applauded by the teachers, who said that the school’s management board just strives for bigger achievements, which would “harm” the students.

The Hung Vuong High School is not alone. In 2009, local newspapers reported that Bui Trung, Headmaster of A Luoi High School in Thua Thien – Hue spontaneously adjusted the students’ marks so as to help the students move up to the next grade.

Ho Thi Pit, a student of the school, got 2 marks from the second semester math exam, which was then raised to 5. Tran Van Phon was allowed to move up to the next grade after the headmaster “granted privilege”. Especially, Ho Thi Tang did not attend the English exam, but she still received the 3.5 mark to be able to move to the next grade.

Trung said that he personally adjusted the marks of six students only. Meanwhile, the teachers of the school, exploiting the loosened management, adjusted the marks of the other 10 students.

To explain his behavior, Trung said that he had to do that to “keep good relations with the VIPs.” Some of the students turned out to be the children or nephews of the high ranking officials of the district authorities.

However, the Chief Education inspector of the Thua Thien – Hue province affirmed that it was the Headmaster of the high school who needed to take responsibility for allowing incapable students to move up to the next class.

The headmaster was also found as violating the regulations on finance management when setting up many additional fees when he was taking the office

In July 2007, Tran Thi Thu Ha, Deputy Head of the Lien Dam Secondary School in Lam Dong province spontaneously raised the marks of 3 9th graders to upgrade their learning capability ranking from “weak” to “average.”

Raising students’ marks in order to create more good and excellent students has become very popular at the general schools all over the country. The behavior has been criticized as an expression of the so called “achievement disease” – the term which has been used recently to say about the “virtual achievements” of the Vietnamese education.

VTC