Ministry of Education and Training: Not yet abolishing high school graduation exam

On the evening of August 1, leaders of the Ministry of Education and Training met with a number of press agencies to announce the Ministry's official opinion on the information that the public is interested in, namely the cancellation of the high school graduation exam.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Vinh Hien affirmed: The Ministry of Education and Training has been conducting research and putting the orientation of innovation in exams - recognition of high school graduation as well as university admission into the project "Comprehensive fundamental innovation of education and training in Vietnam", as well as the project of innovation of programs and textbooks after 2015. After these projects are passed and approved, the Ministry of Education and Training will announce the exam innovation plan to solicit opinions. Thus, it can be understood that the high school graduation exam will still be organized.

No exam no study?

Although on the same day, July 31, there were two important events related to the career of educating people, which were the Government members discussing and giving opinions on the project of fundamental and comprehensive education reform, mentioning the fundamental, core, strategic issues of the country's education and the Fatherland Front asking for opinions on solutions to improve the quality of education in Vietnam, the education news last weekend heated up again with the topic of "eliminating graduation exams". That shows that exams are always a social issue, of interest to the whole population.

In the education process, testing and evaluation, including the form of exam organization, is an important step, if not the most important because it will adjust the way of teaching and learning, even decide the quality of education. Therefore, every solution related to exams needs to be carefully considered. For this reason, the Ministry of Education and Training immediately expressed its opinion on the information that Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan raised the issue of asking the education sector to think, research and answer whether or not to abolish the high school graduation exam at the meeting organized by the Vietnam Fatherland Front and this is a responsible and timely action.

Affirming the role of the only graduation exam remaining in the 12 years of general education, Deputy Minister Nguyen Vinh Hien emphasized that the exam not only provides results to decide whether students pass or fail, but also has the effect of encouraging and motivating learners to strive to progress; providing teachers and managers with useful feedback information to adjust the teaching and management process to improve the quality of education.

Because of its importance, how to conduct graduation exams to achieve the set goals is not a simple matter, not only in Vietnam but also in many countries around the world. The Ministry of Education and Training has also made many efforts to organize this exam better, however, Deputy Minister Nguyen Vinh Hien also frankly admitted that this exam in our country has not been as expected.

Although the industry leaders did not mention it, in reality, studying for exams has become a way of thinking and a motto for teachers and students. Previously, there was an exam at the end of each level of education. This was an activity to evaluate the achievement of students' educational goals after each level of education, as a basis for schools and teachers to adjust teaching and learning effectively, and at the same time help management levels implement measures to improve the quality of education. The reality of eliminating the two primary and secondary school graduation exams has proven that not having an exam after each level of education also brings about undesirable consequences.

Obviously, both in theory and practice, eliminating the high school graduation exam is not the right thing to do at the present time.

Not yet classified

Not eliminating exams but how to reform them to be compact, effective and still achieve the goals and requirements of testing and assessment is a question that is of public interest. It is known that exams are a difficult issue, because they are not simply technical but also have a great social significance. To reform, it is necessary to synchronously resolve other basic elements of the education program such as goals, content, methods and must have a roadmap, based on careful research. However, in the period of waiting for a fundamental and comprehensive innovation as Deputy Minister Nguyen Vinh Hien said, at least until the end of 2015, is there a more feasible solution?

Two options for graduation and decentralization to localities to organize this exam were discussed in the meeting on the afternoon of August 1. Regarding the graduation option, Deputy Minister Nguyen Vinh Hien's point of view is that if the graduation exam passing rate is 98% and the graduation exam is also 98%, the exam results will be more substantial. In the current conditions, this is a straightforward and correct assessment. Regarding the option of decentralization to localities so that each province and city takes more responsibility for this exam, and furthermore avoids the situation of "competing" according to a common measure, Mr. Nguyen Vinh Hien said that it is not possible because the exam question bank has not been completed yet. Mr. Nguyen Vinh Hien analyzed that with the current organization, in reality, the Ministry of Education and Training is only responsible for two stages: creating questions and inspecting. Even if localities organize the exam themselves, the Ministry still has to inspect and inspect. But the Ministry was not confident in assigning the organization of the exam to localities while letting the provinces and cities set their own questions, and the graduation exam at that time did not achieve the set goals.

Continuing to organize an exam that has caused controversy over its effectiveness, the Ministry of Education and Training has expressed its viewpoint: If it cannot be managed, it should be abandoned. The correct and responsible viewpoint regarding the quality of human resources in this country needs to be demonstrated by more effective management solutions, which is what public opinion both expects and demands from the Ministry of Education and Training.

According to HNM-LH