High School Exam 2015: Aiming for benefits and reducing pressure for students

(Baonghean) - In 2015, the national high school exam will be held with many changes in the exam organization, admission, question making, scoring scale, etc. On this occasion, we had an interview with Associate Professor, Doctor Mai Van Trinh, Director of the Department of Testing, Assessment and Quality of the Ministry of Education and Training.

PV:Hello Associate Professor, Doctor Mai Van Trinh, can you tell Nghe An Newspaper readers more about the new features of this year's high school exam?

Associate Professor, Dr. Mai Van Trinh:The 2015 exam will focus on the interests of students, so there will only be one exam. The results will be used to both graduate from high school and to consider admission to universities and colleges. Up to now, all universities in the country have had an enrollment plan and only Hanoi National University is piloting the integrated competency assessment exam. All universities in the country will use the results of the national exam for enrollment, of which 60% will use the national exam entirely, the remaining 40% will use the results of the national exam and organize in a separate form.

This exam will have 8 subjects, including 3 compulsory subjects: Math, Literature, Foreign Language and 1 elective subject from Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History, Geography. For Foreign Language, students who have an international certificate according to Official Letter 6031 will be exempted from the exam for the purpose of high school graduation. In addition to the 4 minimum subjects, candidates can register for other subjects based on the subjects of universities and colleges. For independent candidates from 2014 and before, they can only register for subjects serving the purpose of admission to universities and colleges.

Students of Nghi Loc 3 High School learn about the 2015 National Exam through leaflets. Photo: Doan Hoa

The exam format will be inter-provincial, chaired by universities. The exam marking will be done by exam clusters. Participating in marking will be teachers from universities and high schools. An exam cluster will be established in the province for candidates who only use the exam to graduate from high school, but it will still be chaired by universities. These two exams will still be organized according to the same regulations, the same process, and the same exam questions. This is done to ensure objectivity.

Using exam results: Graduation will take the general exam score plus 50% of the transcript admission score. Particularly, university registration will have many different scores. Previously, candidates registered for the school first and then found out the score later, so there were many cases where candidates had very high scores but still failed. This year, after the exam results are out, candidates will need to consider which school to register for. The Ministry of Education and Training will have a software to calculate scores so that students can easily compare their exam scores to make a more suitable choice. It is expected that in one admission round, 4 wishes can be registered for one school and if there is a wish to transfer the application to another school, the candidate has the right to withdraw the application to transfer to another school.

PV:With so many changes, many parents and students feel worried. Some opinions say that organizing a common exam is too hasty, because if we want to innovate the exam, we must first innovate the teaching and learning methods, and the curriculum in textbooks. How do you explain this issue?

Associate Professor, Dr. Mai Van Trinh:I think this is a very straightforward and correct question. However, I must affirm that before agreeing on the common exam plan, the Ministry conducted a survey of 2,788 high schools and Continuing Education Centers with nearly 138,000 teachers and 929,000 students and found that the exam must be close to the students' studies at school. In fact, over the past many years, we have had many innovations in teaching and learning, and the practice of giving open questions has been around for many years. The integrated exam format has also been tested and is becoming increasingly clear, especially in the 2014 university and college entrance exams. Therefore, the gradual innovation in this exam is consistent with the innovation in teaching and learning at schools as well as in testing and assessment. We will also gradually innovate, this form of exam will be the first roadmap to prepare for the creation of exam questions based on the complete assessment of students' abilities.

Candidates do not have to worry too much because it will be based on the spirit of the 2014 exam. That is, it does not require much data knowledge but requires students' ability, general knowledge and understanding of life. The exam will be divided into two parts, with basic questions, suitable for both high school students and vocational education students. If you do well on these questions, you will be eligible to graduate. The more difficult questions are for the purpose of selecting students for universities and colleges. In the previous exam, if a student took many blocks, they could take up to 13 subjects, but this year they will only take 5-6 subjects and will not have to travel much.

PV:So, does grading on a 20-point scale have much of an impact on test results? Many students believe that grading on the new scale will double the amount of homework?

Associate Professor, Dr. Mai Van Trinh:This is a completely wrong point of view. The national high school exam is intended to use the exam results to consider recognizing high school graduation, and at the same time serve as a basis for universities and colleges to use in admissions. To achieve this goal, to meet the diversity of universities and colleges as it is today, the requirement to differentiate the results of subjects in the national high school exam must be set at a higher level than the separate high school graduation exam and university and college admissions as in previous years.

To achieve high differentiation, the quality of the test plays an important role; at the same time, the invigilation and grading are also factors that affect the test results of candidates. In the national high school exam, the planned expansion of the scoring scale from 10 to 20 is to help the grading work differentiate in more detail, better supporting the admission work of universities and colleges. In addition, using the 20-point scale will better support the university and college admissions process (Because with the same 0.5-point division step, the 20-point scale is divided into more detailed levels than the 10-point scale. When expanding to the 20-point scale, the test-taking of candidates will not change compared to before, but candidates will have more advantages. Specifically, in the 20-point scale, the detailed scoring will be up to 0.25 points and the total test score will not be rounded, so the scale will be divided more densely (more points) than the 10-point scale (the 20-point scale is divided into 80 levels, while the 10-point scale is 40 levels). If there are initial difficulties, it is only for teachers who grade the test.

PV:Thank you Associate Professor, Dr. Mai Van Trinh.

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