Ministry of Education: 2016 National High School Exam is no different from 2015

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Bui Van Ga said the exam questions were basically the same as in 2015, still encouraging candidates to apply knowledge learned in high school to real-life situations, and open-ended questions did not require mechanical answers.

- What are the new points in this year's exam and admission regulations, sir?

- The Ministry has just officially issued the National High School Exam Regulations and will issue the University Admission Regulations in the next few days. This year, the Admission Regulations will be revised and supplemented to overcome the limitations of 2015 and replicate good experiences.The purpose of the amendments is to create the most favorable conditions for candidates taking the national high school exam as well as having more opportunities to be admitted to universities and colleges.

Major changes to the national high school exam are that candidates from any province will be able to take the exam in that province without having to travel far. University and college admission regulations will be revised to create the most favorable conditions for candidates to choose their favorite major rather than trying to choose a school just to get into university.

In 2016, there will be 70 exam clusters hosted by universities. Large cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City will have fewer university exam clusters than in 2015, but will still have more clusters than the provinces. The Ministry has issued necessary criteria for selecting schools hosting exam clusters such as experience, number of lecturers in basic faculties, and previous cluster hosting...

Changes in the admission regulations also help candidates have information to register for admission to the schools' majors. They do not have to withdraw their applications but instead apply to two schools in the first round, with two preferences for each school, and to three schools in the additional round, with two preferences for each school.

Deputy Minister Bui Van Ga.

- Why does each province and city have a university entrance exam cluster, but the Ministry still maintains the exam cluster chaired by the Department of Education?

- Organizing 2 types of exam clusters is to create the most favorable conditions for candidates. Regardless of the cluster, there will be a university participating to ensure the fairness, objectivity and seriousness of the exam. Currently, a number of provinces and cities have reported, some provinces only deploy one exam cluster chaired by a university. Localities will be responsible for transferring students from remote areas to the city center to take the exam.

- How will the exam be given?

- The basic exam questions are no different from those of 2015, still encouraging candidates to apply the skills of using knowledge learned in high school to real-life conditions. Open questions do not require candidates to answer mechanically. The Ministry will soon issue sample exam questions for candidates, parents and teachers to refer to.

For the Foreign Language subject, in areas with learning difficulties, an alternative subject can be used. Within the framework of the National Foreign Language Project 2020, Foreign Languages ​​will be taught throughout the system. Candidates in remote and rural areas will also be taught to achieve the required level. This is an urgent requirement because our country is in the process of integration.

- Polytechnic University is establishing a group of schools, so how do candidates submit their application for admission to these groups of schools?

- For school groups, students can submit all their wishes in this school group and can apply to many schools, not necessarily two schools as the general rule.

Group admissions are not for the benefit of the group of schools but for the benefit of candidates and also create conditions for the schools. For example, candidates who submit four wishes to a group of schools can apply to four schools in the group in the same major. Candidates who are not accepted to a top-ranked school can be accepted to a middle-ranked or lower-ranked school. This encourages candidates to choose their favorite major rather than choosing any school.

For schools, recruiting students in groups will overcome the virtual situation. Establishing groups of schools to recruit students is convenient for both candidates and schools. The Law on Higher Education stipulates that autonomy in recruiting students is the right of schools, so whether schools form groups or not is their right. KIn the Northern region, Hanoi University of Science and Technology is leading a group of schools participating in enrollment. They are developing a group enrollment project to report to the Ministry for implementation. In the near future, some other schools may stand up to form a group of schools.

- You said this year the Ministry did not set a college entrance threshold, what is the reason?

- For colleges this year, the most fundamental change is that there is no longer a regulation on the threshold to ensure input quality. This is in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Vocational Education. Schools still have to enroll students from high to low until they reach their quota, so there must be specific plans.

- The set calculates to gWhat are the anti-virtual solutions for schools?

- In the regulations, the Ministry of Education has anticipated and had necessary solutions to help schools reduce difficulties caused by virtual reality. Specifically,The Ministry encourages schools to recruit students in groups. Schools proactively gather together to let candidates register. After a candidate is admitted to their first choice, there will be no further admissions, which will avoid the illusion of schools in the group.

This year, candidates admitted to the school are required to submit their exam results within the specified time limit. After that time limit, candidates will be considered admitted but if they do not attend school, the school will have the right to consider the next candidate, instead of having to wait until they enter school as in previous years.

The Ministry also does not stipulate that the admission score of the next round must be equal to or higher than the admission score of the previous round so that schools can be more proactive in determining admission quotas.

In the application form, candidates must clearly state the schools they have applied to so that schools can predict the admission score.

According to VNE