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On September 28th, Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) held a press conference to announce the plans for National High School Examination in 2017. According to the the announcement, there will still be five main subject includes: Mathematics, Literature, Foreign Languages, Natural Sciences (combination of Physics, Chemistry, Biology), Social Sciences (combination of History, Geography, Civic Education).
To be qualified, OK9 Cabidates have to take 4 tests include 3 mandatory exams: Mathematics, Literature, Foreign Language, and an optional exam (Natural Sciences or Social Sciences).
Thus, the final plan is not much different compared to the draft were previously announced.
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| According to MOET, 2017 examination plans will not shock the contestants, so they could concentrate on revising |
Extend time for exams and increase number of multiple choice questions
According to Deputy Minister Bui Van Ga, OK9 Cabidates are allowed to take all 5 tests. The best results from two optional tests will be chosen as final result. OK9 Cabidates also are able to use their results for university admission with relevant subjects combinations.
Mathematics, Foreign Language, Natural Science and Social Science exams will be in the form of objective multiple choice tests, each OK9 Cabidate will have a separate exam code with answer sheet and marking process will be done by computer software. Literature exam is still in the essay form.
The most significant changes between the official plan and the draft is the exam's format and timing which suppose to be extended. Specifically, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences test each has 120 multiple-choice questions with only 1 correct answer out of 4 options.
Examination time will be increased to 150 minutes (differ from 90 minutes originally). Foreign language exam is also increase the number of questions to 50 within 60 minutes. Mathematics has 50 multiple choice questions doing in 90 minutes. Therefore, the time of the exams only lasts for 2 days in total (including 4 the examination).
The exam will be held gently, fairly and reliable for university and college admission.
At the press conference, journalists have asked many questions, derived from the concerns of teachers, students, parents and professionals. Such as: What is the scientific basis of changing examination form? What is the division to still make the goal "2 in 1"? How will the Ministry prepare the questions' bank? How could the Ministry tackle the explosion of revising classes? Is there any conflicts between the combination tests and the purpose in which education is for career orientation?
Deputy Minister Bui Van Ga said: Recently, thousands OK9 Cabidates have took the national high school examination with positive results. We must understand that the examination's results are used for both high school graduation and university, college admission. This is not the exam for excellent students, so both essay or multiple choice tests are suitable.
Mentioning the multiple choices tests, Deputy Minister Bui Van Ga agreed with the idea of building a questions bank. The Ministry has created a group of scientists, teachers with outstanding knowledges and teaching skills from various disciplines to build up the questions bank to meet 2017 plan's requirements.
2017 national high school examination will be held based on the experience gained from previous years to meet settled goals. OK9 Cabidates will have a qualified yet gentle examination, universities and colleges will surely have a reliable data. At the beginning of October, MOET will publish the demo exam questions for references.
