Parents waiting for their children to take the 6th grade exam at Vinh Yen Secondary School, June 2024. (Source: Department of Education and Training of Vinh Phuc province)

Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, Head of the Department of Education and Training of Vinh Yen City (Vinh Phuc), has just sent a letter of apology for the mistake in the entrance exam for grade 6 at a secondary school.

In the apology letter, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Chung said that in the 6th grade entrance exam for Vinh Yen Secondary School in the 2024-2025 school year held on June 16, there was an error in the answer to one question, leading to inaccurate results.

Specifically, in question 4 of Math, there is the content: “Every 4 years, An has a birthday. The birthday in 2024 is the third birthday that An's parents have celebrated for An since the day An was born. So what is the day, month, and year of An's birth?

The four answers given include:

A. February 29, 2012

Β. 29/2/2016

C. 29/2/2021

D. February 28, 2016".

Based on public opinion information and instructions from the leaders of the People's Committee and the Department of Education and Training of the City, the inspection council has researched options and consulted with leading experts in Mathematics at primary and higher levels.

This is considered a practical problem, it is necessary to consider practical factors when solving the problem and must ensure the goal of the general education program is "applying mathematics to practice".

The Council agreed: For question number 4, Math subject in the test to assess the capacity of students entering grade 6 at Vinh Yen Secondary School, school year 2024-2025, the correct answer is: An's date of birth is February 29, 2012.

Through the letter, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Chung affirmed that the negligence that led to the announcement of test results and inaccurate assessment of students' abilities was extremely regrettable and never desired by the examination council.

The examination board sincerely apologizes to students and parents whose children participated in this assessment test and hopes to receive sympathy and sharing.

“The Examination Council and the City Department of Education and Training would like to draw profound lessons and consider this a lesson in the process of organizing exams, contests, tests, etc. to avoid questions and answers that cause misunderstanding or controversy,” excerpt from the apology letter.

Previously, on June 16, more than 1,580 students took three exams in Math, Vietnamese and English, competing for 360 places at Vinh Yen Secondary School. Of which, Math had 10 multiple choice questions and two essay questions. The admissions council did not announce the scores for each question. On June 22, Vinh Yen Secondary School announced the results, honoring students with high scores. Ms. Chung said that the change in answers made the results "inaccurate".

Vinh Yen Secondary School is one of the 9 key secondary schools in Vinh Phuc province. In 2024, all 9 schools will organize the 6th grade entrance exam on June 16, with nearly 5,600 candidates.