At a press brief on July 10, the Ministry of Education and Training announced that in the two phases of the University Entrance Exams, 1,673,628 students registered of which 1,298,522 actually sat for the all important exam to enter colleges and universities.

In the first phase, 133 universities held exams, and 125 in the second phase.

142,000 staff members from educational facilities were called to supervise, during which time 333 students received disciplinary fines, 17 received warnings and 254 were rusticated.

Most of the students were rusticated for bringing in cell phones and documents into the exam rooms despite warning of supervisors. Ten supervisors also faced disciplinary action.

In all, more than 35,000 young volunteers and students took part in helping students who had come from all corners of the country for the exam.

Bui Van Ga, Deputy Minister of Education and Training, said many problems were tackled immediately thanks to an established hot line to receive information from all across.

Police are investigating two impersonation cases at the Vietnam People’s Security Academy and the University of Fire Prevention and Firefighting in Hanoi.

Universities will complete marking by July 31. An educational council will convene a meeting to calculate the ceiling marks to ensure quality. Ngo Kim Khoi, Head of the Ministry's Educational Testing and Quality Assessment Department, said this year the quota in universities and colleges is 605,000 despite participation of fewer candidates.

According to Deputy Minister Ga, the ministry cannot restrict the number of students who do not actually take part in the tests. Around 77.6 percent of total registered students nationwide sat for the tests.

The Student Support Center in Ho Chi Minh City said they helped 234,850 contestants and their parents in two phases of the University Entrance Exams this year. The center provided 72,508 shelters, including 10,973 free ones and thousands of gratis meals as well as pens, rulers and maps.

In related news, although heavy rain caused flooding in many parts of the province and many streets were submerged by upto 70 centimeters of water, 10,000 candidates still arrived in schools safely thanks to deployment of Vietnam military in the Northern Province of Thai Nguyen.

Nguyen Bien Luan, an orphan, from the central province of Phu Yen, whose father was a soldier who died of a head wound and mother succumbed to leukemia, was determined to taking part in the exam.  Following his dead father’s wishes, he decided to sit for the tests at the Vietnam People’s Security Academy.

Source: SGGP