VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Education and Training’s (MOET) decision to withdraw an examination reform plan has posed a question about the ministry’s way of renovating education.


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MOET is considering renovating the examination policies



MOET’s Minister Phung Xuan Nha on May 22 signed a decision on recalling the plan on reforming high school finals and university/junior college/intermediate school exam policies for 2018-2020, soon after local newspapers reported the VND750 billion plan.

The decision was made after the ministry checked the plan and discovered problems, especially in financial estimates.

“I really feel uneasy about what MOET is following,” said Minh Quang, lecturer at a university in Hanoi.

An education expert, who was a department director of MOET, said the ministry’s decisions on publicizing the plan and then recalling it showed unprofessionalism. 

The plan does not address the issues of high-school finals and lacks scientific arguments.

“In the decision on recalling the plan, MOET wrote that the last exam was organized well and satisfied people. I wonder, if an examination scheme reform is needed, why is everything already satisfactory?” he said.

The Ministry of Education and Training’s (MOET) decision to withdraw an examination reform plan has posed a question about the ministry’s way of renovating education.

The expert said that the move showed that compilers have limited vision, work carelessly and are unprofessional. They don’t have convincing arguments to defend their opinions amid the protests from the public.

“MOET should have assigned experienced officers to compile the plan and the draft should have been made public on the internet for public opinion,” he said.

More criticisms have appeared on education forums. 

“The spirit of the Prime Minister’s instruction on practicing thrift when using public budget still has not been done by MOET,” a commenter wrote. “They (MOET) turned a deaf ear on all warnings and only recalled the plan when facing opposition.”

The plan on renovating high school finals and university/junior college/intermediate school exam policies for 2018-2020 signed into issuance by MOET’s Deputy Minister Nguyen Huu Do on April 17 showed that a huge amount of money will be spent in 2018-2020.

The estimates for high school finals organization and enrollment for universities in 2018 are VND151 billion, of which the exam organization works alone cost VND34 billion.

 The development of exam question bank that serves the 2018 high school finals is expected to cost VND84.7 billion.

A high school teacher in Hanoi commented the estimated costs are high. Suppose that 800,000 students attend the high school finals a year, the total spending on one examinee would be VND1 million ($45), much higher than the spending of $15-25 in the US.  


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