2017 National High School Exam Reference Questions Cause Controversy

Many questions in the 2017 national high school exam reference test for Geography are considered by teachers to be inaccurate and outdated in knowledge.

The reference questions for the 2017 national high school exam in Geography, announced by the Ministry of Education and Training on May 14, have several controversial questions.

Some teachers said that question 44 of the test had incorrect knowledge. Specifically, the question asked which province National Highway 1 starts from and ends in. There were 4 answers: Can Tho; Kien Giang; Ca Mau; Ho Chi Minh City. "Our country does not have National Highway 1, but only National Highway 1A; National Highway 1B; National Highway 1K... So there is no correct answer to this question," said a teacher.

The 2017 National High School Exam reference questions for Geography have caused much controversy. Screenshot.

Question 55 of the Geography exam is considered outdated knowledge, not close to reality. The exam requires students to use the Atlas to answer the question of which cities have a population of over 1 million people. The 4 options given are: A. Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hai Phong; B. Hanoi, Da Nang, Hai Phong; C. Hai Phong, Can Tho, Hanoi; D. Hanoi, Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh City.

According to the teacher, Da Nang's population in 2015 was over one million, Hai Phong over two million, and Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City exceeded this threshold. Therefore, 3 out of 4 answers in the question are correct, students will be confused when answering.

Question 42 about the regions of Vietnam that are prone to earthquakes has the options: Southern, Central, Northwest, Northeast which is considered "noise" in the concept. "Our country does not have the Central region but only the North Central region; South Central Coast. The national multiple choice exam should not use this noise option", the teacher analyzed.

Question number 52 about which river system of Vietnam is located in both the Northern and Southern territories, made a 30-year Geography teacher "shake his head" and unable to answer.c.

Geography test group (Ministry of Education): Tests closely follow textbooks

The Geography reference test development team (Ministry of Education and Training) has responded to the above questions. Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duc Vu, a member of the Geography test development team, said that the test had no errors.

Regarding the name National Highway 1, he said that this is the correct name according to the 12th grade Geography textbook, Atlas of Vietnam Geography published by the Vietnam Publishing House from 2009 to present. The Geography textbook wrote: "National Highway 1 runs from Huu Nghi border gate (Lang Son to Nam Can, Ca Mau, 2,300 km long". This is also the official name prescribed by the Ministry of Transport, with the beginning at the northern border (bordering China) and the end point in Ca Mau. "The name National Highway 1A is just a habit, due to fear of confusion with other National Highways 1B, 1C or 1K", Mr. Vu said.

The question about the city with a population of over one million people or which river is located in both the northern and southern parts of Vietnam, the purpose is to assess the skill of reading the Vietnam Geography Atlas. Students look at the Atlas to answer according to the data given in it, so the question is error-free.

The way of naming the regions of Vietnam's territory used in the question about earthquakes, Associate Professor Nguyen Duc Vu also said, is correct in the Geography 12 textbook (Vietnam Education Publishing House). He quoted the whole sentence in the Geography 12 textbook as evidence: In our country, the Northwest is the region with the strongest earthquake activity, then the Northeast region. The Central region has fewer earthquakes, while in the South, earthquakes are very weak.

"Textbooks are unified teaching and learning materials throughout the country along with the Vietnam Geography Atlas. Therefore, when making test questions and answers, we first rely on these two documents to ensure consistency and consistency in teaching and testing throughout the country," said a representative.Geography reference building block.

Dr. Sai Cong Hong, Deputy Director of the Department of Testing and Educational Quality Assessment,said it will continue to listen and absorb opinions from many perspectives to better prepare for the upcoming national high school exam.The selection of which knowledge content to test must be done very carefully.

The recent publication of reference questions aims to helpStudents have an overview of the exam format in 5 parts, avoiding confusion when approaching the official questions.Local authorities also know the basic number of exam pages to prepare the earliest plan for printing, packaging, transporting and securing the exam papers in the upcoming exam.

According to VNE