Unusual signs in exam marking in Hai Phong

The conclusion of the surprise inspection of the direction and implementation of the enrollment regulations of the Department of Education and Training of Hai Phong City for the grading of the 10th grade entrance exam for the 2024-2025 school year by the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training pointed out limitations, shortcomings, and violations such as the preparation of equipment in the multiple-choice test grading room not being fully prepared according to the progress and work plan of the Examination Council.

Typically, candidates who register for admission to both public high schools and specialized high schools will have to take two foreign language exams (one general foreign language exam and one conditional foreign language exam). As for the Japanese language subject, the Hai Phong Department of Education and Training has not yet explained why it has chosen to require candidates to take the conditional foreign language exam in English or French instead of Japanese while the Japanese language exam is conducted in Japanese.

In the implementation of the marking process, some examiners did not fully understand the regulations and made mistakes during the marking process; some examiners 1 still discussed while marking independently; some examiners did not follow the correct marking process for essays; the unified score sheet of examiner 1 and examiner 2 was not according to regulations but used form 4 (marking minutes).

It is noteworthy that when checking the probability of some exams of some subjects marked on June 12, 2024 and June 13, 2024, the examiners did not follow the correct procedure and some exams showed signs of irregularities.

The inspection team also recommended that the Examination Council and the Department of Education and Training of Hai Phong City review the History (specialized) exam papers and other subjects (especially those with signs of irregularities) and handle and resolve them according to the regulations of the Examination Council, the Department of Education and Training of Hai Phong City and the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training.

With the above inspection results, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training recommends that the Department of Education and Training handle and direct the handling according to its authority of violations of regulations by members of the Examination Board and examiners during the examination process (if any); direct lessons learned from the contents shown in the memorandums, recommendations of the inspection team and the direct opinions of the team when working with the Examination Board, leaders of the Department of Education and Training and the Examination Steering Committee.

Exam score scandal in Thai Binh

At the end of July 2024, Mr. Lai Van Hoan - Vice Chairman of Thai Binh Provincial People's Committee - officially signed and issued an official dispatch to the Provincial Inspectorate, Provincial Police, Department of Home Affairs, Department of Information and Communications regarding the inspection of the organization of the entrance exam for grade 10 of high school in the 2024-2025 school year in Thai Binh province. The reason is that Thai Binh Provincial People's Committee received petitions from citizens and public opinion reflecting irregularities in the exam scores in this entrance exam.

According to Lao Dong's investigation, among the 11 members of the delegation, there were 2 officers from Thai Binh Provincial Police. The Thai Binh Provincial People's Committee then decided to temporarily suspend Mr. Nguyen Viet Hien - Director of the Department of Education and Training - from July 31, to serve the inspection of the organization of the entrance exam. During the inspection, Mr. Nguyen Viet Hien is responsible for providing full information and relevant documents as requested by the head of the inspection delegation and competent authorities, ensuring compliance with the provisions of law.

In a complaint sent to authorities and the press, a parent of a student (residing in Nam Hong commune, Tien Hai district, Thai Binh province) said that many parents, students, and teachers of secondary schools across the province were extremely surprised and upset by the low scores, which did not accurately reflect the students' test results.

The student's family and many other parents submitted a large number of appeals. The appeal results showed that the student's regular math score increased from 6.75 to 9 points, a difference of 2.25 points.