Still the same cost

(Baonghean) - The “two in one” exam has ended. Whether it will be a “great success” as usual is still uncertain because there are still many unresolved issues. Even the simple, obvious issue of funding for those taking the exam has not been reduced as expected.

The reason for saying so is because, before the exam took place, many people were convinced that this year's exam would certainly be less costly and troublesome for families and the whole society. Because with 99 exam clusters spread across provinces and cities across the country, instead of centralized exams like before, the distance that candidates and their families had to travel had been significantly reduced, the farthest distance was only 200 km instead of thousands of km; instead of millions of candidates and parents having to travel, now only a much smaller force of invigilators would have to travel (if any). That is an "operations research" problem that is easy to see and beneficial to millions of people.

However, in life, there are things that "seem so, but are not so". In this story of exam reform, it is also very easy like that. Just say that students only have to take the exam once, do not have to travel far, and reduce costs. If you calculate carefully, it is not necessarily so. In the past, when taking the graduation exam at school, students went to school to take the exam by themselves. In the morning, they took the exam and returned home at noon, in the afternoon, and in the evening, they went home to eat and sleep. No one took them. Those who passed, those who wanted to take the university entrance exam, had to go to the city to take the exam. Those who did not want to be "a courtesan or a graduate", stayed at home to find a job. But now, "two in one", so even if they did not want to go to university, they still had to pack up and go to the exam cluster. When children take the exam, their father or mother also had to go with them. So everyone had to go, not thousands of kilometers, but even if they were fifty or a hundred kilometers, they had to stay in a motel, had to eat, and had to spend money. Spending a few days of the exam also cost hundreds of thousands of dong per student. Adding it up for the whole country is not a small amount. After the exam, those who have enough points to be considered for admission by universities must go to that school to take the entrance exam as required by some schools. Once again, they have to pack up and leave. Of course, it is not as crowded as the last time, but the distance is sometimes “a long journey of thousands of miles”, so the cost is quite expensive.

Of the more than 1 million candidates taking the exam, only about 59% want to go to university or college. So half of them only need to graduate. If the exam was taken in the old way, half of them would not have to spend a penny because they took the exam right at school. But now with the change, half of them still have to travel. So, one exam is saved, but the number of people who have to travel is almost double, so the cost is not reduced much. The inconvenience is still the same. On record hot days, parents still lie around on the streets, just like in previous exams.

If you calculate carefully, it's still troublesome and costly.

Confidant