Thousands of students queued up to register to attend TOEIC tests

Some of them spent sleepless nights, while others had to leave home when it was still dark. 

Some of them told reporters that they wanted to sit the exam prior to February 15, as they heard that the exam questions would be restructured and become more difficult after that day. 

Others explained that they need a TOEIC certificate to submit to schools for graduation.

IIG is the only official representative in Vietnam which has the right to organize TOEIC exam in accordance with international standards. The demand for TOEIC certificates is very high. 

However, according to Do Van Xe, rector of the Hung Vuong University, the underlying reason behind this is the regulation set by universities that students must have TOEIC certificates to be able to graduate from schools.

He said that graduates should have their English skills meeting certain levels, because it is now the era of global integration. However, there should be a roadmap to implement this.

“As schools require TOEIC certificates, students have to register to attend TOEIC exams. Not all foreign language centers in HCMC can organize such exams,” he said.

Meanwhile, a university lecturer in Hanoi believes that it is unreasonable to require students to have TOEIC certificates, because what schools teach is not enough for them to pass TOEIC exams.

“Students at non-foreign language schools only have two English hours a week. The teaching quality is very bad. However, schools still require their students to meet international standards,” he commented.

As a result, most students have to take extra English lessons at foreign language centers, rather than rely on lessons at school.

Hoang Ngoc Vinh, former director of the Professional Education Department, also commented that students teach English ‘in accordance with Vietnamese standards’ but want their graduates to have ‘international standards’.

He pointed out that while schools can only design a curriculum that meet Vietnamese standardized foreign language skills, they asked students to have international standards.

“Universities need to build up curricula and assess students’ capability based on Vietnamese standards. It is the students’ right to decide whether to attend TOEIC exams or not,” he said.

Xe of Hung Vuong University also cited MOET’s (Ministry of Education and Training) Decision No 43 as affirming that under the current regulations, students don’t have to have TOEIC 450 or TOEIC 500 to be able to graduate from school.

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