Government responds to proposal to abolish high school graduation exam, keep university entrance exam

The Government report signed by Minister Nguyen Kim Son stated that maintaining the high school graduation exam is consistent with the requirements of quality management and ensuring fairness in general education.

Minister Nguyen Kim Son - Photo: GIA HAN

On the morning of December 4, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave opinions on explaining, accepting and revising group 5 draft laws amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Education ; Law on Higher Education (amended); Law on Vocational Education (amended).

Resolution of the National Assembly stipulating specific mechanisms on a number of guidelines and policies in Resolution 71 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in education and training development; resolution on investment policies for the national target program on modernization and improvement of education and training quality for the 2026-2035 period.

A unified set of textbooks: Compile new ones or select and revise from existing sets

Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said he accepted comments on the draft Law on Education, which was adjusted to remove the regulation that the Government decides to socialize textbooks.

The open regulation is that the Ministry of Education and Training decides on a unified set of textbooks nationwide.

"This allows flexibility in compiling new plans or selecting and editing current textbooks," Minister Son said.

Previously, Minister Nguyen Kim Son, authorized by the Prime Minister, signed a report on the Government's acceptance and explanation of the opinions of the draft law's delegates.

The Government said that institutionalizing the task in Resolution 71, the draft Law stipulates that "The Ministry of Education and Training decides on a set of general education textbooks to be used uniformly nationwide".

This regulation is intended to ensure that the Ministry is allowed to choose to compile a new set of books or select and edit from existing sets of books, depending on the practical situation and the decision of the competent authority.

At the present stage, it is not feasible to determine in the Law whether the unified set of books will be compiled directly by the State or implemented through socialization, because the specific plan is being considered by the competent authority.

Open regulations as in the draft will ensure the stability of the law, not creating rigid constraints while the policy is still being researched and its impact assessed.

In addition, the Government has assigned the Ministry of Education and Training to develop a Report on the implementation plan of a unified set of textbooks nationwide from the 2026-2027 school year, ensuring publicity, transparency, objectivity, thrift, and anti-waste.

Along with that, inheriting and promoting the advantages of existing textbooks, minimizing the impact on teachers and students and not disrupting teaching and learning activities.

In response to delegates' opinions, after the competent authority's decision, the Government will direct the review and adjustment of current regulations related to textbooks.

At the same time, specific regulations on reuse and shared library books are stipulated in the Government's decree on free textbooks to ensure a full legal basis, suitability for practice and meet the requirements of publicity and transparency in implementation...

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man - Photo: GIA HAN

The exam problem must be calculated and managed strictly, whether it is input or output.

Speaking at the meeting, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man shared that this morning at the National Assembly's discussion session on the Government's term of office, delegate Nguyen Thi Tuyet Nga (Quang Tri) mentioned the heavy pressure when taking the 10th grade entrance exam.

"In the future, the issue of exams must be carefully calculated and managed, whether it is input or output. International experience or studying a master's or doctoral program makes it easy to get in but difficult to get out...", he suggested researching and reviewing carefully.

Emphasizing that textbooks are an issue of concern to parents, people, and voters, the National Assembly Chairman raised the question "will this amendment of the laws be able to overcome this?".

He also stated that there have been a number of disciplinary cases, including criminal prosecution, related to textbooks.

Previously, in the acceptance and explanation report, many opinions suggested maintaining stability but needed to improve the way of creating questions and grading exams, but there were also opinions suggesting not organizing the high school graduation exam, only keeping one university entrance exam. This opinion suggested that the Ministry of Education and Training would regulate the way of organizing the exam.

Regarding this content, the Government agrees that maintaining the high school graduation exam is necessary in the current period.

The exam aims to assess the level of output standards of the general education program, ensure uniformity in graduation recognition nationwide, and provide reliable data to monitor and evaluate the quality of education between regions and serve university admissions.

Maintaining exams contributes to ensuring objectivity, fairness and discipline in the education system.

Regarding the proposal to improve the examination method, the Government has directed the Ministry of Education and Training to continue reviewing and perfecting the question setting, grading and analysis of results.

Strengthening the application of technology and reducing pressure on students, institutionalizing these contents in the High School Graduation Exam Regulations.

Regarding the proposal to abolish the graduation exam and only keep the university entrance exam, the Government recognizes that the two exams have different goals and functions.

University admission is a highly differentiated activity under the autonomy of higher education institutions; institutions can use high school graduation exam results, organize their own exams or apply appropriate admission methods.

Therefore, maintaining the high school graduation exam is in line with the requirements of quality management and ensuring fairness in general education.

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THANH CHUNG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chinh-phu-phan-hoi-ve-de-nghi-bo-thi-tot-nghiep-thpt-giu-thi-tuyen-sinh-dai-hoc-20251204112408516.htm