Recently, in the draft amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Regulations on high school graduation exams issued with Circular No. 15/2020/TT-BGDDT dated May 26, 2020, amended and supplemented by Circular 05/2021/TT-BGDDT dated March 12, 2021 and Circular 06/2023/TT-BGDDT dated March 24, 2023 of the Minister of Education and Training (MOET), there have been many proposals to strictly protect exam questions, avoiding question leaks and question leaks.

Accordingly, the draft proposes to put unpublished exam questions and answers in the list of state secrets of the "Top Secret" level. Unused backup exam questions will be automatically declassified after the exam invigilation is completed.

The period of protection of state secrets of the level "Top Secret" for the exam papers of the tests/subjects only ends when the test time for the multiple-choice test/subject ends and two-thirds (2/3) of the test time for the essay test ends.

The draft also tightens the process of making exam questions. Accordingly, making exam questions and printing exam questions (generally called making exam questions) must be done in a safe, isolated location and must be checked by the police for security, safety, and strict protection throughout the exam time until the end of the final exam period, with adequate security equipment, information leakage prevention, and fire prevention and fighting.

The isolation of the three independent rounds of the exam area is strictly implemented. Round 1 is completely isolated from the outside from the time the exam begins or the original exam is opened for printing until the final exam is completed.

Before making the exam, the Exam Council/Exam Printing Board must coordinate with the police force to develop a plan to ensure security and safety for the exam making process, check to ensure that the windows of the rooms are tightly sealed and sealed by the police force to ensure that they cannot be seen from the outside.

Meanwhile, round 2 is the area adjacent to round 1 and round 3, completely isolated from the outside until the last exam is completed. Round 2 is managed by the police force, with the following tasks: monitoring all landline phone communications as prescribed in this clause, being the focal point for information communication with the outside, controlling people and objects from round 3 to round 2 and vice versa.

Police in round 2 are not allowed to discuss exam questions or personal matters with any member of the Exam Council and round 3;

Round 3 is the area adjacent to round 2 and outside, which is managed by the police force, with the following tasks: ensuring security and order around the exam area 24 hours a day; controlling and preventing unauthorized people or prohibited objects from entering the exam area; opening a logbook to track people and objects entering/exiting the protected area; requiring all people entering/exiting to wear badges issued by the Exam Council.”

Also in the new draft, it is stipulated that the exam storage room, exam marking room, cabinets, boxes or other items containing exam bags must be safe, secure, locked and sealed, and the seal must have the signatures of the key holder, the leader of the Examination Board and the police.

The keys to the doors of the rooms containing the exam papers are kept by the leaders of the Examination Boards; the keys to the cabinets, boxes or other items containing the essay exam bags are kept by the Examination Council secretary on duty at the Essay Exam Board;

The keys to cabinets, boxes or other items containing multiple-choice test bags are kept by the Head of the Secretariat of the Multiple-Choice Test Scoring Board.

The room for storing exam papers, the room for marking multiple-choice exam papers, the room for marking essay exam papers, the place where the Secretariat of the Examination Council and the Secretariat of the Examination Board perform their duties in the exam marking area must have fire and explosion prevention equipment;

There are security cameras monitoring and recording activities in the room 24 hours a day; there are police guards monitoring and monitoring 24 hours a day.

When closing or opening the exam storage room, exam marking room, cabinets, boxes or other items containing exam bags, the presence of the leader of the Examination Board, the police and a full log must be kept.

The draft also proposes that the construction area must ensure security and safety, have adequate fire prevention and fighting equipment, and be protected by police 24 hours a day;

No information and image transmitting devices; participants are not allowed to bring information transmitting devices into the recording area.

People working in the demolition area are only allowed to operate within the permitted space, in accordance with their assigned duties and responsibilities.

The inner circle is a closed area, completely isolated from the outside, consisting only of members directly involved in making the essay test and supervisors assigned by the Director of the Department of Education and Training; the windows of the rooms must be closed and sealed by the police; the gaps leading to the outside must be sealed with durable, strong, impenetrable materials.

Every day, people in the inner circle receive materials and food and drink from outside through the outer circle;

The outer ring is the area adjacent to the inner ring, the communication point between the inner ring and the outside;

Including security, police, medical, and service; equipped with a landline phone with recording function and a loudspeaker controlled by the police 24 hours a day to contact the Examination Council/Examination Steering Committee at all levels; all telephone communications must be recorded, the loudspeaker turned on, and a diary must be kept with the signature of the person directly in contact and witnessed and confirmed by the police.

People working in the outer circle are responsible for receiving materials and food and drinks from outside into the inner circle; checking materials and objects transferred from the inner circle.