Overview of the press conference for the 2023 high school graduation exam held this afternoon (June 29) in Hanoi. (Photo: MOET)

On the afternoon of June 29, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) held a press conference on the 2023 high school graduation exam. Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong, Head of the National Steering Committee for the 2023 High School Graduation Exam, chaired the press conference.

Also attending were Mr. Huynh Van Chuong, Director of the Department of Quality Management, Ministry of Education and Training; Major General Tran Dinh Chung, Deputy Director of the Department of Internal Political Security (A03), Ministry of Public Security.

2 cases of leaked questions did not affect the exam

Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong, Head of the National Steering Committee for the 2023 High School Graduation Exam, affirmed that the exam ended successfully with careful preparation by localities and related ministries and branches with over 250,000 officials and teachers working on the exam.

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Education and Training, 41 candidates were suspended from the exam during the two days of the exam. Of these, 40 candidates brought cell phones into the exam room. Six officials had to suspend the exam invigilators for violating the regulations. During the exam, some candidates intentionally violated the regulations on using cell phones in the exam room and some teachers did not follow the correct and sufficient procedures when invigilating the exam.

Among them, two candidates in Cao Bang and Yen Bai used their mobile phones to take pictures of the exam papers and send them to their relatives for help. The images were then spread on social networks and in the press.

Immediately after receiving the information, the Ministry of Education and Training requested the Internal Political Security Department to verify, clarify and suspend the above two candidates. Currently, the Internal Political Security Department is continuing to clarify other related issues for handling according to the provisions of law.

The above two incidents did not affect the results of the exam. While the exam was taking place, the Minister of Education and Training issued a telegram requesting to strengthen exam supervision measures after two cases of leaked exam questions occurred.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong, Head of the Steering Committee for the 2023 High School Graduation Exam. (Photo: MOET)

Ensure differentiation

Speaking at the press conference, Professor Nguyen Ngoc Ha, Head of the National Examination Board, said that the construction of the examination must ensure the general principle of closely following the published structure. The examination is also based on the high school curriculum and ensures differentiation.

Regarding the opinion that this year's Literature exam is old in structure and command, making it difficult to encourage innovation and creativity in teaching literature, Mr. Ngoc Ha affirmed that in recent years, the reading comprehension section has used materials other than textbooks, so it is more diverse. Thereby, it can encourage candidates to present independent and creative thoughts, and some reading comprehension sentences are also educational.

In response to many concerns that the exam questions do not ensure differentiation, Professor Nguyen Ngoc Ha affirmed that the Ministry of Education and Training, in the process of creating exam questions, always focuses on ensuring fairness, demonstrated by the need to differentiate students. Specifically, this year's exam questions are 50% comprehension level, 25% recognition level, 25% application and high application level.

According to Professor Nguyen Ngoc Ha, this year, the Ministry of Education and Training has adjusted the process through a number of measures. In addition, the question-making process must ensure confidentiality. Therefore, the people who introduce the questions, compose the questions, and select questions for the question bank must be different people.

No outside solutions sent into the exam room have been detected.

Mr. Huynh Van Chuong affirmed that the process of creating and printing exam papers had been thoroughly checked and reviewed before the exam took place. The issue of exam paper security was given special attention, both to promote human responsibility and to apply technology.

At the exam sites, 40 cases of bringing phones into the exam room were discovered. On the morning of June 29 alone, a candidate in Vinh Phuc discovered another candidate using a phone and proactively reported it to the invigilator for handling.

Mr. Huynh Van Chuong said that the exam questions were closely following the high school education program, mainly grade 12, ensuring the exam's objectives and avoiding errors. In addition to the graduation goal, candidates can use the exam results to apply for university admission.

Regarding anti-cheating in exams, Mr. Huynh Van Chuong said that anti-cheating solutions have been adopted through many training sessions. However, when organizing large-scale exams with more than 1 million candidates, there will be isolated cases.

Regarding the two candidates who used cell phones in the exam room and sent the Literature and Math exam papers outside the exam room in Cao Bang and Yen Bai, the Ministry of Public Security is continuing to investigate and verify the related parties, then will handle them according to the law.

Major General Tran Dinh Chung, Deputy Director of the Department of Internal Political Security, Ministry of Public Security, informed: "During the exam, when there was information about the phenomenon of leaked exam questions, we urgently verified and found the candidates who used their phones to take pictures of the exam questions and send them out. We will continue to consider whether there was a situation of solving exam questions sent in from outside. But at the present time, this has not been detected."

The risk of leaking exam questions is very high if there are no efforts to prevent it.

Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong said that through the inspection, the Ministry of Education and Training highly appreciated the thorough preparation of the locality and the timely and close support of the Ministry of Public Security. Police officers were both trainers and trainers, and security officers shared many experiences with exam officials to detect and prevent signs of exam cheating.

With the support of the Ministry of Public Security, the risk of cheating on exams using high-tech devices was envisioned by the National Examination Steering Committee before the exam took place and prepared to respond.

Mr. Thuong shared: "Of the 41 candidates who violated the exam regulations, 40 brought cell phones into the exam room. The risk of leaking the exam questions is very high if there are no efforts to prevent it from the exam staff."

In addition, Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong said that the exam is no longer as stressful as before because the propaganda work has been strengthened in the spirit of openness and transparency. Localities have also done a good job of caring for candidates in difficult areas.

Regarding the exam questions, Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong affirmed that there have been many adjustments to the process and personnel mobilization.

Mr. Thuong said: "The test has high reliability. It ensures the requirements and purposes. The Ministry of Education and Training will accept comments on the test to gain experience. The Ministry also sees that renewing the test is something that needs attention. But along with the implementation of the new general education program, renewing the test needs to have a roadmap."

In addition, the Deputy Minister of Education and Training also said that the innovation of the Literature exam to combat the situation of studying "model essays" needs to continue to be given attention and promoted.