Vice Chairman of Ha Giang Provincial People's Committee admitted unusual exam scores

Four days after the announcement of the 2018 national high school exam results, the incident of Ha Giang having many candidates with unusually high scores has not yet subsided. The Ministry of Education and Training has sent a working group to support the exam steering committee of this province.

Working withZing.vnOn the afternoon of July 15, Mr. Tran Duc Quy - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Head of the Steering Committee for the 2018 National High School Exam of Ha Giang - admitted that the exam scores were unusual.

- Sir, after receiving feedback on cases of unusually high exam scores, what is the solution for Ha Giang province?

-In fact, when the results came out, the good news was that Ha Giang had two candidates in the top 10 with the highest scores in the country. I was very excited, thinking this was a breakthrough in education in my province.

But then the press reported the unusual scores, I was worried whether the scores were real or not. Before the ministry's official dispatch, I met with the department's board of directors to directly clarify the issue.

The province saw this as something that needed immediate attention, so it gave instructions in advance. We had to review all stages of implementation, from receiving the exam questions from the Ministry of Education and Training, to the facilities (Ha Giang has more than 5,000 candidates, 11 districts and towns have exam rooms), the process of invigilation, handing over the exam papers after the exam, how to do it, the method, the order, to the important stage of organizing the exam marking, how the members of the exam marking council work.

This is something we need to pay attention to. Therefore, Ha Giang has implemented it very seriously.

After that, the Ministry of Education and Training sent an official dispatch. On July 14, the Ministry's working group went to coordinate with Ha Giang.

The province wants to seriously evaluate this exam, what it has achieved and what it has not, and whether the exam scores are real or not.

If the points are substantial, it is very good. But if not substantial, there is definitely injustice here, we must do it thoroughly to gain the trust of Ha Giang people.

Ha Giang is determined not to pursue achievements. If we want the province and the country to develop, we must have a good team of officials. If we want a good team of officials, right from the high school level, the students must really meet the requirements to enter university.

- Previously, the Ministry of Education and Training directed the Ha Giang exam committee to review and inspect and report to the Ministry on the 17th, but then the Ministry sent a delegation down. Was this participation due to unusual signs during the review process or was it proposed by the province? Will the Ministry's participation change the original plan?

When the review found any unusual issues, the locality discussed with the Ministry of Education and Training. As the Deputy Minister said, the locality has to do it, we do it.

During the implementation, we found some difficult issues that required coordination because the locality alone could not do it, and had to ask for help from experts. This is not a simple task and is also extremely urgent, requiring coordination and support.

The Ministry has a lot of experience in inspection. Violations of exam regulations and irregular scores are not the first time in Ha Giang, but are happening everywhere in the country.

I understand it well, but it arises from one or a few individuals and is very sophisticated, so it requires the involvement of the right specialist.

Therefore, the ministry's delegation came, in addition to the Banking Academy - the school directly in charge of the exam here - and a number of experts in the field of information technology and other fields also came to urgently deploy.

- Public opinion is interested in how the review process is carried out and which forces are involved?

- We review all stages in parallel and synchronously, but will choose the most crucial stage where negative effects may occur.

The Ministry's inspection team has full capacity to do this and support Ha Giang. First of all, this is the task of the examination council, security agencies, police, and relevant agencies.

We focus on the test scores. We focus on which score comes from which stage. We must find any irregularities.

- From the exam data, if abnormalities are detected in some papers, will the exam council focus on re-scoring those papers?

- We are in progress, we will do each problem one by one, focusing on the abnormalities, and the problem of how to score and review has been supported by experts in this field.

Focus on any suspicious or unusual steps because during the exam, no council reported any unusual problems.

Now, we have to focus on each issue one by one, considering how to administer the exam, receive the questions, transfer the exam papers, grade the exams, and preserve the envelopes in the exam rooms.

- Does this mean the exam committee will skip the exam invigilation while candidates are still allowed to exchange papers in the exam room?

- We focus on the main stages, while researching and reflecting, not missing any information.

I affirm that we will definitely have results in the shortest time, meeting the goal of detecting abnormalities, bringing trust to the Party, State and people.

We all have to wait. Now, I cannot reveal because the inspection principle is to only announce when the results are available.

But as head of the steering committee, I affirm that I will do everything thoroughly with the highest determination and responsibility, putting the people's interests above all else, with no cover-up.

- After the review process is completed, if any violations are discovered, how will the province handle them? Will the Council re-score or take any action that affects the candidates' test scores?

- The minister's view is that scores must return to the students' true values. Our steps are relatively systematic and rigorous, so that after the end, we can eliminate unrealistically high scores. Scores must return to the students' true values.

Second, we must handle any mistakes seriously, including criminal matters, without any "no-go zones" or cover-ups.

- How long is the review expected to take and when will it be completed?

- We hope it will be finished soon, that is, within a few days because the results must be recognized on the 18th. There is not much time left.

We have to wait for the progress, it may be a day or two late but we cannot extend it because we have to recognize the scores for the students to register for university entrance exams. Yesterday, some groups had to work until 1am.

- Until today, do you confirm that the examination council will have a satisfactory answer to public opinion?

- I am sure there will be a satisfactory answer, most importantly for the people of Ha Giang. Otherwise, the people will no longer trust the government.

People say that learning is talent and passing the exam is fate. Yesterday, I analyzed, normally studying can get 7 points but on the exam can get 9 points, that cannot be denied. But getting 4 points to 9 points is too difficult, not that it is impossible but only one test like the case in Nghe An in 2016.

This is the fourth year of organizing the 2-in-1 exam, which is very good for the students in taking the exam. But through this exam, the ministry will certainly draw experience and consider what to implement.

The exam has good points in bringing benefits to the people but also has bad points, loopholes that need to be closed.

This takes time. When we implement a model, it may or may not be successful. But it doesn't mean that it's not successful, we still try and fix the shortcomings.

This is also a lesson for other provinces because not only Ha Giang, Son La also has candidates with two 10s even though they normally do very poorly on the test.