SUBJECTIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONCERNS

At the conference, Mr. Pham Ngoc Thuong, Deputy Minister of Education and Training, Head of the National Steering Committee for the 2023 High School Graduation Exam, said that the worrying thing is the subjective mentality because they think that exams are a job that has been done for many years, so they are subjective from preparing means, equipment to checking and supervising the processes. In addition, the extreme weather conditions, heat, power shortages... require contingency plans.

"Many unusual situations can happen at any time, we need to anticipate them to avoid being passive," Mr. Thuong emphasized.

The exam is organized on a large scale, at the same time with over 1 million candidates registering for the exam, about 250,000 people participating in the exam organization in different regions and terrains, so ensuring security and safety is extremely difficult, requiring plans and solutions.

Mr. Thuong also emphasized: "It is necessary to ensure the factors of seriousness, fairness, objectivity, safety, and compliance with regulations". Thereby, he requested that no officer or employee participate in organizing the exam without being trained. Depending on the subject and scope, there will be an examination after training.

LESSONS FROM THE BLURRED PRINTING OF GRADE 10 EXAM QUESTIONS IN HA NOI

The printing and copying of exam papers is one of the contents that the Ministry of Education and Training especially emphasizes to localities in the upcoming exam. Mr. Huynh Van Chuong, Director of the Department of Quality Management (Ministry of Education and Training), suggested: "Localities should pay attention to preparing adequate facilities for printing and copying exam papers. Machines and equipment must absolutely not have the function of transmitting and receiving and must not be connected to the internet, and the connection ports must be inspected and sealed by the police."

According to Mr. Chuong, all means, materials, and equipment in the exam paper printing area, whether damaged or unused, must only be taken out of this area after the last exam/subject of the exam is completed. During the printing process, the correct number of copies must be printed. Note that copies of foreign language exams/subjects must be printed for combined exam rooms; copies of each exam code for each exam of each multiple-choice exam/subject. There must be specific measures to distinguish the envelopes/bags of different exams/subjects.

At the conference, Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training Tran The Cuong also proactively reminded that some of the 10th grade entrance exam questions in Hanoi were printed blurry, leading to dozens of students misunderstanding. The Department of Education and Training had to add an answer key to ensure the rights of students and affirmed that this should be considered a lesson in the printing of exam questions in the upcoming high school graduation exam.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu, Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, raised the issue: For localities with a large number of candidates taking the exam and a large number of exam papers that need to be printed, such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the exam paper printing stage must also anticipate situations such as: being in absolute isolation to print exam papers but the machine malfunctions, the exam paper printing staff does not have the skills to fix it, how to handle it?

Safety and security in the printing and copying of exam papers is also one of the contents that Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong emphasized to the localities when concluding the conference. Mr. Thuong said that there are still some provinces and cities that have not really paid attention to the printing and copying locations, there are places where the officers who print and copy exam papers have to sleep on canvas beds, the living conditions lack the minimum level of amenities, while the officers doing this work need to be guaranteed health and mental comfort to do well, because even a small mistake can cause unfortunate consequences.

DON'T LEAVE IT TO MACHINES

The leaders of the Ministry of Education and Training have repeatedly emphasized the requirements when preparing for the upcoming exam, that is, no matter how well-prepared and complete the facilities are, the most important decision is still the human factor, from the selection stage to training, reminders and supervision...

Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said: "Every year we pay attention to be cautious, but reality shows that sometimes poor equipment will lead to consequences. We need to prioritize the best equipment, but we also do not completely rely on equipment. Human inspection and careful human factors are also very necessary. Prioritizing equipment and human coordination - those are the things that ensure peace of mind and safety."

Mr. Son also noted the training content for exam supervisors, coordination forces, and guidance for candidates. Regarding tasks such as printing and copying exam papers, transporting exam papers, preserving, transporting, and submitting exam papers, he hoped that the province/city would come up with many plans to prepare for cases of unusual weather, natural disasters, especially during extreme weather like early this summer.