National Assembly delegates from Nghe An province propose to abolish high school graduation exam

On the morning of October 22, the National Assembly worked in the Hall and discussed groups related to draft laws.

At the working session at Dien Hong Hall, the National Assembly listened to presentations and examination reports on the following projects: Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Education; Law on Higher Education (amended); Law on Vocational Education (amended); Vietnam Civil Aviation (amended); Law on Public Employees (amended).

Next, the National Assembly discussed the above draft laws in groups. The National Assembly delegation of Nghe An province discussed in Group 7 with the National Assembly delegation of Lam Dong province.

Unifying a set of textbooks is necessary.

Delegate Thai Thi An Chung - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province expressed her agreement with the amendment and supplementation of a number of articles of the Law on Education, saying that the adjusted contents are necessary and suitable for practice.

However, she gave two comments, first of all the regulation on the age of entering grade 10 is 15 years old. According to the delegate, this regulation is still rigid, not ensuring the rights and obligations of citizens to study as stated in the 2013 Constitution.

In reality, there are many cases where students arrive late to school due to difficult circumstances, changes in residence or health reasons, but when conditions permit, they still need to continue studying. Therefore, the delegates proposed to remove the above regulation, creating flexibility and equality in learning opportunities for all citizens.

The second issue, delegate Thai Thi An Chung commented on the regulation: Students who have completed high school and meet the requirements set by the Ministry of Education and Training must take an exam to be recognized as graduates; if they fail, they will be awarded a certificate.

The delegate said that the high school graduation exam should be abolished. Because, according to her, this exam has long had a “dual goal”: both to consider graduation and to serve as a basis for university admission, but the two goals are contradictory. If it is for graduation, the exam only needs to be at a normal level, but if it is for university admission, it must have high differentiation.

In fact, the 2025 High School Graduation Exam had more than 1.1 million candidates participating, held at about 2,500 exam sites, with more than 50,000 exam rooms and mobilized over 200,000 officials, teachers, staff... to serve and support. However, the graduation rate reached 99.21%, with only a very small percentage of students failing and being awarded certificates instead of diplomas.

According to the delegate, an exam with such a large scale and social cost but the passing rate is almost absolute, shows that the effectiveness and meaning of the exam is no longer high, even quite wasteful. Meanwhile, the draft Law on Higher Education (amended) this time is also drafted in the direction of allowing schools to be autonomous in the admission method, so the results of the high school exam are no longer the only channel.

Therefore, delegates proposed that the amendment and supplement to this Law should stipulate that students who complete the high school program and meet the conditions prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training will be granted a high school diploma without having to take an exam.

In addition, regarding the Law on Higher Education (amended), delegates expressed concerns about regulations related to academic autonomy and enrollment autonomy.

According to the delegates, the draft Law stipulates that the Minister of Education and Training approves training programs for teachers, health and law sectors, which is not consistent with the spirit of academic autonomy that the law aims for. This provision is "pre-audit" in nature, contrary to the "post-audit" orientation that the Government is advocating.

In particular, delegates also raised concerns about including the legal field in the group of industries requiring approval, while legal personnel after training must continue to undergo vocational training and take exams to practice. Therefore, it is recommended to consider removing the above regulation.

At the same time, the Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province also proposed to review the regulation requiring training institutions to determine enrollment targets and methods according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, to avoid narrowing the autonomy of higher education institutions.

Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Nghe An Department of Education and Training, said that the revised Law on Education this time has many new breakthrough and humane points such as forming a vocational high school system; expanding compulsory education to the end of junior high school; eliminating exams and junior high school graduation certificates, assigning principals to issue certificates of program completion...

Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh believes that the unification of a set of textbooks is a correct and necessary policy. According to him, this not only helps ensure equal access for students nationwide, but also facilitates State management, ensuring consistency in school governance, curriculum and student transfer. Parents, teachers and educational institutions also find it easier to organize teaching and learning when the curriculum and learning materials are synchronized.

Regarding the local education program, he expressed his agreement with the new regulation in the draft law that empowers localities to develop, appraise, promulgate and organize printing.

Previously, although localities developed their own content on culture, history, and regional identity, they still had to submit it to the Ministry for approval, leading to delays, lack of books, and many places had to use photocopied documents. Now, when the law clearly stipulates the authority of the province, it will help to be more proactive and closer to reality.

However, he suggested that the Government soon have specific instructions on printing mechanisms, funding sources or socialization so that localities can implement smoothly, ensuring that students have official, timely and correct textbooks.

Qclearly define criteria and responsibilities when refusing to transport passengers

Discussing the draft Law on Civil Aviation of Vietnam (amended), delegate Tran Nhat Minh - full-time National Assembly delegate of Nghe An Delegation suggested that the law should clarify and unify the understanding of some basic concepts to avoid confusion in the application process. Specifically, he suggested clearly explaining "aviation safety" and "flight safety" to clearly define the scope, and at the same time, studying and adding the concept of "flight activities"...

Referring to the regulations on the right to refuse to transport passengers, the delegate said that the draft law currently only states 6 cases where the carrier is allowed to refuse even if the passenger has a ticket and a confirmed seat, but does not clearly stipulate the obligation to refund the ticket price and service fees.

He analyzed that in many cases not due to the passenger's fault such as health reasons, risk of spreading disease... which are objective, passengers should be refunded. On the contrary, subjective cases such as security violations, disturbing public order, alcohol use... can be considered non-refundable.

Delegates emphasized that the lack of specific regulations can easily lead to disputes, so it is necessary to clarify the rights of passengers and the obligations of the carrier to ensure transparency and people's rights.

Regarding the statute of limitations for initiating a lawsuit for compensation for damages of the carrier, delegate Tran Nhat Minh proposed a review to unify with the Civil Code.

He pointed out that the draft law stipulates a statute of limitations of 2 years, while the Civil Code stipulates 3 years from the time the person with rights knows that their rights have been violated. Since this is a civil matter, not specific to aviation, the delegate suggested applying it uniformly according to the Civil Code to ensure the uniformity and consistency of the legal system.