6 controversies surrounding the 2023 high school graduation exam.

The 2023 high school graduation exam was the most controversial and problematic in history since the exam was renamed and merged with the university entrance exam.

Passed the Literature exam

Right on the first morning of the 2023 high school graduation exam, the Literature exam paper was posted on social media at just after 8 am, only 25 minutes after the exam began.

Images of the Literature exam paper circulating on social media show the exam was photographed in an examination room, with the exam notification slip next to the answer sheet. Upon receiving this information, the Ministry of Education and Training immediately notified the Internal Political Security Department (A03) of the Ministry of Public Security to verify the information.

The Internal Political Security Department discovered that a candidate at the Cao Bang Provincial Examination Board used an iPhone 11 to photograph the Literature exam questions at around 7:50 AM, then sent the questions to relatives to ask for help solving them. Subsequently, the image of the Literature exam questions was circulated on social media. The Ministry of Public Security located this candidate at 1:30 PM.

The official Literature exam paper from the Ministry of Education and Training (left) and the exam paper photographed and sent outside by a candidate (right).

Passed the Math exam

While public opinion was still buzzing about the leaked Literature exam, on the same afternoon, suspicions arose that the Math exam had also been leaked. After the Math exam on the afternoon of June 28th, readers reported to the press that images of a portion of the Math exam, specifically questions 41 to 45 of code 113, had been sent out while students were taking the exam. Comparison with the official exam paper showed that the leaked images matched the latter half of page 4 of code 113.

Immediately after receiving information from the Ministry of Education and Training and the press, the Internal Political Security Department verified and investigated. As a result, A03 identified a candidate involved from the Yen Bai Provincial Examination Board who used a phone to photograph and send the exam questions outside.

The Ministry of Education and Training stated that the two incidents did not affect the exam. "These were misconducts by individuals; there was no evidence of any answers or guidance on how to answer the questions being sent into the examination room from outside," a representative from the Ministry said. The Ministry of Education and Training suspended two candidates and terminated the invigilation duties of six officials and supervisors involved in the two incidents.

The math exam paper was photographed by a student and leaked outside the examination room.

Literature Topic

After the Literature exam ended, some teachers pointed out that the mock graduation exam from the Nghe An Department of Education and Training was very similar to the official exam from the Ministry of Education and Training.

Accordingly, the text excerpt in the essay section of both exams is taken from the short story "The Picked-Up Wife" by writer Kim Lân, and the questions are somewhat similar.

The Literature exam at the second mock high school graduation exam in 2023, organized by the Nghe An Department of Education and Training on April 15-16, asked: "Analyze the above excerpt. From that, comment on the novelty of writer Kim Lân's writing about the theme of farmers before the August Revolution."

The official essay question asks: "Analyze the above excerpt and comment on the perspective of writer Kim Lân as expressed in the excerpt."

Professor Nguyen Ngoc Ha, Head of the High School Graduation Exam Committee, dismissed the concerns and stated that while the source material is the same, the questions are different. "This is normal because the curriculum includes 17 literary works, but only 15 are used due to curriculum reduction," Professor Ha explained.

The text in the official exam of the Ministry of Education and Training (left) and the mock exam of Nghe An (right) are identical.

The Geography exam had a strange question.

Many teachers have commented that the Geography exam in this year's Social Sciences test included unusual questions that were outside the textbooks of grades 10, 11, and 12. Question 79 in test code 324 presented a data table on the volume of goods transported by air domestically and internationally to Vietnam from 2015 to 2020. The question required candidates to choose the appropriate type of chart to represent this data.

The question provides four options: A. Column, line, region. B. Circle, line, region. C. Region, column, circle. D. Line, column, circle.

However, many candidates were confused by the question's requirements, finding it difficult to choose the most appropriate type of chart for the given data. "None of the four answer options provided by the Ministry of Education and Training in the exam fully satisfy the requirements of the question," one teacher commented.

Regarding this information, Professor Nguyen Ngoc Ha, Head of the High School Graduation Exam Committee, said that he would discuss it with the exam preparation team and send a written response to the press later.

A strange question in the 2023 high school graduation geography exam.

The chemistry exam lacked rigor.

Teachers believe that the Chemistry exam, code 201, contains several questions with poorly worded sentences, inaccurate information, and a lack of logic.

In question 54: The question setter's intention was to refer to the reactions that take place in a blast furnace with CO to convert Fe₂O₃ into Fe (answer C. heat treatment). However, "heat treatment" is simply a common method for producing iron in industry.

"If the question stated, 'In industry, iron metal is usually produced directly from Fe₂O₃ by the method…', then option C would be correct. However, in the case of question 54, both C and D are acceptable," the group of teachers commented.

Mr. Huynh Van Chuong, Director of the Quality Management Department, said that he would discuss the matter with the question-setting team and provide an answer later. "The council and experts in the national exam question committee will review the matter and officially provide an answer later," he said.

Controversy over English answers

This year's English graduation exam has left many students and teachers confused because there are two correct answers to the same question. Teachers pointed out that question 31 of exam code 401 in English has two correct answers.

The question requires candidates to find the word that needs to be corrected in the sentence: "Their emerging (A) research showed that the learning motivation of the two groups of learners was quite distinctive (B) from each other, and the compared ( C) group whose learning motivation was stronger performed better than the control (D) group".

However, the question only allows candidates to choose one correct answer, which confuses students and teachers, making it difficult to determine the most accurate answer. Choosing either B or C would be correct in this question. This is because the phrase "distinctive from" (B) has no meaning in the Cambridge and Oxford dictionaries. The dictionaries explain that "distinctive" means characteristic, typical, usually combined with a noun, and not with "from". The correct usage is "distinct from".

Alternatively, choosing answer C, "comparative group," would also be acceptable because it uses the wrong terminology; "comparison group" would be more appropriate.

Similarly, question 18 of test code 401 also caused controversy, with the question asking to fill in the blank: The journalist is talking about having a new ______ published in the local newspaper next week.

The four suggested answers are: A. editor; B. documentary; C. cartoon; D. article. The teachers believe that students can choose either C or D correctly.

Professor Nguyen Ngoc Ha, Head of the High School Graduation Exam Question Drafting Committee, stated that they have received feedback. Regarding question 18, Professor Ha said that the English exam question drafting team confirmed that D - article - is the correct answer. Regarding question 31, Professor Ha said that the question drafting team is reviewing the matter and will provide an answer later.

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Source: https://vtc.vn/6-lum-xum-ve-de-thi-tot-nghiep-thpt-2023-ar803892.html