HANOI, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Over 860,000 Vietnamese students on Thursday started taking the 2017 national high school exam which has new features, and its results are considered for both high school graduation and university admissions.
Since 2015, high school graduation and university entrance exams have been merged into a national exam. Last year, nearly 890,000 students took the exam.
At the three-day exam this year, for the first time, all tests, excluding literature, should be done in the format of multiple-choice questions.
Also for the first time, students have the right to choose additional tests among natural science and social science subjects.
To be considered for high school graduation, students must take three compulsory tests, namely maths, literature and foreign language, and one test either among natural science subjects (physics, chemistry or biology), or among social science subjects (history, geography or civics).
If students take both additional tests, including one natural science subject and one social science subject, the test with higher mark will be used for graduation consideration.
The Ministry of Education and Training announced that this is the first year it has assigned each city or province to chair the national high school exam. Previously, the ministry chaired it.
Prior to the exam, the ministry published, for the first time, sample tests so that students could prepare for the real tests better. This year, each testing room accommodates 24 students, compared with 30-40 candidates in previous years.
This year, all supervisors are supposed to take lucky draws before a test to choose their testing room, which is designated to ensure a transparent exam, preventing collusion for cheating between a supervisor and a candidate.
However, students are permitted to bring recorders and video cameras into their testing rooms, provided that the equipment do not transmit data or receive audio signals. This regulation enables candidates to record violations in their testing rooms, and the evidence can be sent to relevant agencies later.
The ministry has established two hotlines, and departments of education and training in all 63 cities and nationwide have also set up their own hotlines to receive complaints and feedback from students, their parents and other people.
Among localities nationwide, Hanoi capital city and Ho Chi Minh City have the highest numbers of candidates, with roughly 73,000 and nearly 71,500, respectively.
On Wednesday, students across Vietnam gathered at 2,364 testing locations in 63 cities and provinces to complete all registration procedures for the national high school exam.
Before 2015, to be admitted to a university or college, high school graduates, who pass the high school graduation exam, had to take a university entrance exam.
In 2014, some 11,000 high school graduates sat for the entrance exam for admissions to the Foreign Trade University in Hanoi. For every 4.7 candidate, one passed.
