National High School Math Tests Accused of Being Inaccurate, What Does the Ministry of Education and Training Say?

At the end of the national high school exam, information about the difficult and inappropriate math exam and one question without a correct answer received public attention.

A representative of the Department of Quality Management, Ministry of Education and Training, said that immediately after receiving feedback from many teachers and students that question 16, code 109, was not rigorous and did not have correct answers, the ministry requested the Math exam team to review it carefully and at the same time widely consult expert opinions on this content.

The review results of the test committee and the opinions of the experts sent in are consistent: Question 16, code 109, is familiar to students, similar to the questions and exercises in the 12th grade Calculus textbook, page 78, with completely correct answers.

The Ministry of Education and Training also requested the Math Test Committee to carefully review other questions that teachers and students are interested in. The review results confirmed that all of those questions have correct answers.

The Ministry of Education and Training said it had received feedback about the difficult math exam from teachers, students and reporters at a press conference on June 27. The opinions expressed are only predictions and will only be verified after the exam marking process is completed.

Based on the test score data of candidates, the Ministry of Education and Training will announce the analysis of the score distribution of subjects and exams to evaluate the exam, including the Math exam.

Previously, at the press conference ending the exam, Dr. Sai Cong Hong - Deputy Director of the Department of Quality Management, Ministry of Education and Training - said that the difficulty of the exam questions must be based on the content. The exam council set the exam questions in accordance with the regulations and what was announced to teachers and students.

All content is within the 12th and 11th grade curriculum, of which 12th grade knowledge accounts for 80%-85%, 11th grade knowledge accounts for 15%-20%. The content does not exceed the curriculum that students have learned.

The exam structure still includes 60% basic knowledge and 40% advanced knowledge.

In 2018, the exam questions must be differentiated according to the direction of the National High School Exam Steering Committee. Therefore, compared to 2017, the increased difficulty "is obvious because the knowledge content has been expanded to grade 11".

According to Mr. Hong, another reason why candidates found the test more difficult was that in 2017, trial and reference tests were published, so students had more practice. This year, the Ministry of Education and Training only released reference tests so students know what the test structure is like.

Many mathematicians and teachers think that the math exam is too difficult and not suitable for multiple choice testing.

Teacher Tran Manh Tung - a teacher at Luong The Vinh High School, Hanoi - said he cried for the candidate when he himself could not solve 50 math questions in 90 minutes.

Professor Nguyen Tien Dung - University of Toulouse (France) - who won an international math gold medal when he was only 15 years old, said it took him more than 2 hours to solve 5 difficult math questions.

Besides, many teachers think that question 16 of test code 109 does not have a correct answer and the question is not rigorous.