The Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training has just announced the conclusion of the inspection of the direction and implementation of the enrollment regulations of the Department of Education and Training of Hai Phong regarding the grading of the entrance exam for grade 10 of high school in the 2024-2025 school year. This is the conclusion of a surprise inspection from June 9-13.

HAI PHONG CITY NEWS PORTAL

Many limitations, shortcomings, violations

The inspection conclusion pointed out many "limitations, shortcomings, and violations" in the grading process for grade 10 entrance exams in Hai Phong.

Specifically, at the time of the direct inspection, the inspection team found that the multiple-choice test scoring room had not prepared enough equipment according to the schedule and work plan; the preparation of USB storage for use in multiple-choice test scoring was not in accordance with the regulations in the multiple-choice test scoring process; the sealing paper of the test bag did not meet the requirements (when the seal was removed, the sealing paper was not torn).

In addition, the score sheet of judge 2 is not suitable and convenient for checking and reviewing (because there is no column to record the reason for the difference in scores and the reason for the difference in scores between the two judges).

According to the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training, the inspection team has recommended the above contents and the examination board and the Department of Education and Training of Hai Phong have promptly resolved them.

When implementing the exam marking process, the inspection conclusion stated: "Some examiners have not yet mastered the regulations, and there are still errors in the marking process. In form 4 of the exam marking report, there is no column recording the total score/number of score types, so when entering scores, it is difficult to compare, which can easily lead to risks and errors in the score entry stage.

According to the working plan of the examination board on the process of making essay test papers, in step 2 of the process of making test papers, 10 papers will be combined for specialized subjects. However, when checking the specialized subject test papers bags, each bag will contain 12 papers.

Regarding the essay marking, the inspection team pointed out that the head of the marking team had not assigned seats to the examiners, nor had he written the seating chart on the board according to the regulations of the Department of Education and Training. Some examiners who were marking the first time were still discussing while marking independently.

There are also examiners who have not followed the correct procedure for marking essay exams. Specifically, when receiving the exam paper bag from the team leader, the examiner did not count the number of papers and pages and crossed out the blank part of the exam paper; examiner 1 wrote on the exam paper; examiner did not sit correctly in the diagram; examiner 1 signed and wrote his/her full name on the exam paper; examiner 1 wrote the score on the exam paper; examiner 2 did not write the score in the margin but wrote on each sentence on the exam paper.

In the literature subject, examiner 2 did not score the individual answers but only scored the total score for the entire sentence; examiner 1 crossed out the student's mistakes in red pen and directly scored small ideas in the margins on the student's test.

Examiner 2 (the specialized literature marking group of the literature and geography group 1) does not mark directly on the candidate's test and writes it on the marking sheet. He does not write down the score for each small idea in the margin of the test right next to the idea that is marked according to regulations, but writes down the component scores.

The French (specialized) marking committee did not write down the scores for each small idea in the margin of the test right next to the idea that was marked according to regulations, but instead wrote down the component scores.

The unified score sheet of examiner 1 and examiner 2 is not according to regulations but uses form 4 (exam scoring report).

In the biology grading room (specialized), there was a re-unification of the score sheet and biology answers that were different from the minutes agreed upon in the general grading session for point a, question 1 and point b, question 5.

One Number of exams with signs of abnormality

Notably, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training concluded that through checking the probability of some exam papers of some subjects graded on June 12 and June 13, it showed that the examiners did not follow the correct procedures and some exam papers showed signs of irregularities.

"The inspection team has recommended that the examination board and the Hai Phong Department of Education and Training review the history (specialized) exams and other subjects (especially exams with signs of irregularities) and handle and resolve them according to the regulations of the examination board, the Hai Phong Department of Education and Training and the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training," the conclusion stated.

Regarding the direction and organization of the exam, according to the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training, in the report No. 347/TTr-SGDĐT dated March 27 of the Department of Education and Training of Hai Phong sent to the People's Committee of Hai Phong City, there is no reason for the change in scores for admission to Tran Phu Specialized High School "organizing the conditional foreign language exam" which is English or non-specialized French and the admission method is to calculate the total score of coefficient 1 for general math, literature, conditional foreign language and coefficient 2 for specialized subjects.

This may lead to a situation where the admission results to specialized classes are further influenced by the conditional foreign language subject, without selecting students with qualities and talents in specialized subjects.

As for the Japanese language subject, there is no explanation as to why candidates are required to take the foreign language test in English or French instead of Japanese, while the Japanese language test is taken in Japanese.

The issuance of regulations on whether or not to bring handheld calculators into the examination room has not been unified. There is also no consensus on whether or not to make corrections on the score sheet, leading to difficulties for members of the examination board and the inspection and examination team to implement.

The Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training affirmed that the above limitations, shortcomings and violations are the responsibility of the examination board, the examination and education quality assessment department, and the Hai Phong Department of Education and Training.

Recommendations for handling violations according to authority

The Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training recommends that the People's Committee of Hai Phong City review and implement the responsibilities of the People's Committee of Hai Phong City according to regulations.

Recommend that the Department of Education and Training of Hai Phong handle and direct the handling according to its authority of violations of regulations by members of the examination board and examiners during the examination marking process (if any).

At the same time, add a description/explanation of the change in the admission plan for specialized schools with the addition of a foreign language exam subject to ensure feasibility, fairness, and practicality for candidates.

Continue to review, inspect and check all stages of the admission process to ensure compliance with regulations.

Regarding the examination board, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training recommends that it is necessary to study, review, adjust and issue, according to its authority, the working plan of the examination board to ensure that the content is consistent with the directive documents of the Department of Education and Training, the People's Committee of Hai Phong City and the Ministry of Education and Training.