Vietnam Ministry Plans to Expand Grading Scale for Better College Admissions

Vietnam will likely expand its exam grading scale from 10 points to 20 points to make it easier for universities to admit students when a new national exam is put in place next year. Unlike previous years, the high school graduation and university entrance exams will be merged into one test, called the “National Exam,” which will be administered in June. The Ministry of Education and Training released draft regulations on Dec 18 stipulating that the traditional 10-point grading scale for the exam’s tests will be replaced by a 20-point grading scale. Mai Van Trinh, director of the Education Testing and Quality Control Department under the education ministry, said the proposed change is meant to make the results of the tests more detailed since they will be used for both students’ high school graduation and university entrance. The expansion of the grading scale is intended to help universities and colleges recruit appropriate students for their training programs. In September, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) approved a plan to merge the high school graduation and university entrance exams into one national exam from the academic year of 2015. According to Decision No. 3538/Q?-BGD?T by the education ministry, as of 2015, students will only take a national exam, also called the national high school exam, instead of the traditionally separated high school graduation and university entrance tests. The results of the national exam will be used for both high school graduation and university admissions. The merged exam will include eight subjects, namely mathematics, literature, history, geography, physic, chemistry, biology, and a foreign language. Students will have to take tests on four subjects, including three compulsory subjects of mathematics, literature and a foreign language; and another subject taken from physics, chemistry, biology, history, and geography. They can also take extra tests on other subjects for a better chance to get into their favorite universities and colleges, depending on each school’s requirements. Previously, students who finished 12th grade had to take a high school graduation exam with MoET tests on mathematics, literature and two other subjects chosen by the test-takers from physics, chemistry, biology, geography, and history. About a month after the graduation exam in June, they would then take the university entrance exam, held by the same education ministry. This year’s national exam was initially scheduled to be held from June 9 to 12, but the date has been changed to July 1-4, as hoped for by students, schools and parents so that students could prepare themselves better for the exam. (http://tuoitrenews.vn/ Dec 20)