Illustrative photo.

Education officials and police officers who deliberately falsified exam results last year will be severely punished and the beneficiary children will be expelled from colleges.

Over the past few weeks, many candidates whose national exam results were falsified have turned out to be the children or relatives of provincial leaders and education officials, causing public indignation.

Vietnamese media questioned the Ministry of Public Security at the government’s regular meeting last weekend about the violations related to the examinations in Vietnam’s northern provinces of Hoa Binh, Son La and Ha Giang.

In response, Deputy Minister of Public Security Bui Van Nam said that his ministry has prosecuted three cases related to the exam cheating scandal in the three provinces.

“We prosecuted 16 defendants and identified 222 students whose exam results were falsified, and handed the investigation findings to the Ministry of Education and Training. We will launch further investigations into the case and will make public the findings," Nam said.

He added that those high ranking police officers who deliberately influence to falsified exam results were breaking the law and must be strictly punished.

Earlier, on April 22, local media quoted Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha as saying that he did not accept officials and teachers who committed exam frauds to keep their jobs.

The ministry has been working with the Ministry of Public Security to uncover the offenders to apply the strictest, fairest, and most accurate punishments, Nha stressed.

He added that the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) asked Son La’s Department of Education and Training to revise the test results. Based on the outcomes, it is expected that many students now studying at universities will be disqualified and expelled.

So far, Vietnamese authorities have imposed severe punishments against those having committing exam fraud. A number of officials have been arrested and prosecuted for their involvement in the scam.

In the meantime, the MoET will complete the grading process, ensuring the honesty and objectivity of exam results, to minimize cheating scandals in future examinations, Nha emphasized.

Nha said his ministry will improve the quality of test questions to better serve both purposes of the exam that will determine whether students can graduate from high schools and win a seat in a college or a university.

Bringing justice to students and regaining public confidence is what the MoET must do, Nha noted.

In Vietnam, results of the national high school graduation exams can be used to determine whether the applicants are qualified for certain universities and colleges. Hanoitimes