How are national high school exam multiple choice tests graded?
All data on the candidate's answer sheet will be encrypted during software processing.
Immediately after the Social Science exam ended on June 27, many universities were present in the locality to receive equipment and prepare for the multiple-choice test marking stage.
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| Sample answer sheet for national high school exam from 2017. Photo: Mai Thanh The High School (Soc Trang) |
Technicians directly responsible for marking multiple-choice test papers must strictly comply with the marking process. If any abnormalities are discovered during the process, they must immediately report to the head of the multiple-choice test marking team so that they can work with the monitoring team to make a record and report to the head of the marking committee for handling.
All multiple-choice answer sheets must be graded by machine with the same specialized software provided by the Ministry of Education and Training, from the time the image is scanned until the test score of each candidate is obtained.
Regarding the processing of multiple choice tests, there are three steps before marking, including scanning the test papers, recognizing the scanned images, and correcting technical errors. In all these steps, all data, which has been automatically encrypted by the marking software, must be backed up to three identical sets of CDs or DVDs.
The discs must be packaged and sealed under the supervision of the monitoring team, the police and a record must be made. Then, one disc is sent to the Ministry of Education and Training for management and supervision. One disc must be handed over to the chairman of the examination council for storage. The remaining disc is kept by the head of the multiple-choice test marking committee. The use of the disc sets must be reported and approved by the national high school exam steering committee.
After completing the tasks related to processing the test papers, the multiple-choice test marking team opens the sealed CD containing the multiple-choice test marking data of the Ministry of Education and Training, makes a record of the opening of the seal and loads the marking data into the multiple-choice test marking software under the supervision of the police and the monitoring team.
At this time, the test marking team will score and convert the scores by computer to a 10-point scale, rounded to two decimal places for each test and each component subject of the combined test. The marking team must agree on the use of test codes and subjects in the data files according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training.
After marking all the multiple-choice tests of the examination council, the processed data files and the official multiple-choice test marking results (exported from the software, ensuring the structure and requirements are in accordance with regulations) are saved on three identical CD or DVD sets, sealed and sent to three units as when processing the tests. In which, the chairman of the examination council receives one disc to update the results into the database of the exam management and storage software system.
According to Mr. Mai Van Trinh, Director of the Department of Quality Management (Ministry of Education and Training), this year's exam marking process has undergone some changes to prevent negativity. For example, candidates' multiple choice test papers are electronically marked to ensure that the examiner, if he sees the test, will not see the marking and vice versa.
Regarding the multiple choice test scoring software, the Ministry of Education and Training has revised, upgraded and tested it. All data generated by the software is encrypted, including the answers. Only when the Ministry provides the decryption key can the examiner view it. If they make a mistake at any stage, the examiner cannot go back to make adjustments but must be given a code by the Ministry to edit.
To ensure that localities and universities carry out the marking seriously, the Ministry of Education and Training has established inspection teams to inspect the marking work at 63 examination councils, more than last year. In addition to two officials from universities, the team also has a chief inspector or deputy chief inspector from the Department of Education and Training, but not working in the locality where they work.
The exam results are expected to be announced on July 14 (3 days later than in 2018). Candidates can apply for re-evaluation from July 14 to 23.
On June 25-27, more than 887,000 candidates nationwide took the national high school exam for graduation and university admission. The number of university and college admissions for teacher training majors was more than 653,000. Candidates took 5 exams, including: Math, Literature, Foreign Language, two combined exams of Natural Sciences and Social Sciences, in which except for Literature, the remaining subjects were multiple choice.