Ensuring the rights of candidates

Yesterday (June 12), the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training finalized and implemented the answer key, and nearly 2,000 examiners for subjects such as mathematics, literature, and English officially began grading the 10th-grade exams.

According to the regulations of the Department of Education and Training, each exam paper is graded in two independent rounds by two examiners from two different grading teams. The exam is graded on a 10-point scale, and fractional points of the total score are rounded to two decimal places.

10th-grade students in Ho Chi Minh City during their Literature exam.

D. ALLOW 0.25 POINTS FOR CREATIVE EXPRESSION

The Vietnamese language exam in Ho Chi Minh City always attracts the attention of candidates and parents, especially in this year's 10th grade entrance exam.

Speaking with a Thanh Nien reporter yesterday afternoon, immediately after distributing the answer key to the grading committees, the specialist in charge of the Literature subject at the Department of Education and Training said: "For many years, the entrance exam questions for Literature at the Department of Education and Training have always been open-ended, allowing students to express their thoughts and feelings about life and literature. This year, the exam is even more open-ended than in previous years, allowing students to proactively choose works based on given themes."

According to this expert, with this year's exam, candidates have the opportunity to choose works they have studied or read that interest them and that they enjoy. Within the same topic, candidates can choose their favorite work to write about, thus providing more inspiration for their writing. To do well, students must have the necessary writing skills, meeting the requirements for argumentation, expression, and the application of argumentative techniques, especially analysis.

Key dates for candidates to note after June 12th.

On June 20th , the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training announced the exam results for approximately 96,000 candidates who participated in the 10th grade entrance exam.

Readers can access thanhnien.vn using each candidate's registration number to look up their exam scores.

On June 24th , the Department announced the cutoff scores for admission to 10th grade in specialized and integrated schools.

On July 10th , the Department announced the admission cutoff scores and the list of successful candidates for admission to regular 10th grade classes in public schools.

According to observations by Thanh Nien reporters during the recent Literature exam, many parents were worried because quite a few candidates mistakenly chose a passage or story to write an essay on patriotism in Vietnam, instead of the required stanza or poem as in question 3 of topic 1.

In response to these concerns, the Department of Education and Training's staff reassured everyone that the answer key had been agreed upon by the grading committee and that this situation was addressed in the content and scoring rubric. Accordingly, the examiners based their assessment on the candidate's reasoning to determine if the essay closely matched the content and theme required by the question. This avoids evaluating the essay solely based on the chosen poem. If a candidate chose to analyze a story, the examiners would still evaluate and score the essay based on skills and adherence to the theme, as agreed upon by the grading committee.

At the same time, the scoring scale allocates 0.25 points for candidates who are creative, have innovative expressions, and demonstrate profound and original thinking on the argumentative topic.

"The choice of which work a candidate selects does not determine their score. It is the candidate's presentation of their viewpoint, argumentation, and reasonable interpretations that will determine their score. The grading guidelines set requirements for essay writing skills, argumentation to highlight the issue, and expression. The Department of Education and Training believes that with their expertise and impartiality, the examiners will identify the strengths in the candidates' essays and award points fairly, ensuring no candidate is overlooked," affirmed the specialist in charge of the literature subject.

The 10th grade entrance exam in Ho Chi Minh City took place on June 6th and 7th.

HOW WILL THIS CONTROVERSIAL MATH PROBLEM BE GRADED?

Furthermore, problem number 5 in the math exam has also generated much debate regarding the physics concepts presented in the question.

Mr. Mai Van Tuc, a physics teacher at the High School for Gifted Students in Natural Sciences, Hanoi University of Natural Sciences, pointed out the flaws in the physics knowledge incorporated into the practical problem. He also suggested that the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training should adjust the answer to question 5 to ensure fairness for all candidates.

Meanwhile, Mr. Lam Vu Cong Chinh, a math teacher at Nguyen Du High School (District 10, Ho Chi Minh City), believes that, considering both physics knowledge and reality, the data in question 5 is not purely a physics problem and may not be entirely realistic. However, the question clearly states that the formula applied is "modeled" to apply mathematical knowledge, so candidates can still solve it normally without affecting their overall score.

Does a math exam need to be two pages long?

Some argue that practical math problems need lengthy explanations and interdisciplinary integration, resulting in exam papers that are two pages long.

Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, said: "The length of a practical math exam depends on the objectives, the situations presented, and the requirements for assessing competence at the levels of recognition, comprehension, application, or advanced application. Content containing a lot of data and formulas can help candidates solve the problems easily. Less content or data may require students to apply their mathematical knowledge to solve them… However, the exam committee always considers how to use the data appropriately within the time allotted for candidates to read and complete the exam. The Department continues to research, incorporate feedback, and review the results during the grading process to further improve the assessment process."

In response to the debate, besides expressing appreciation, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training also provided a specific response to Thanh Nien Newspaper. "The problem involves a real-world phenomenon: the process of boiling water in an electric kettle (a familiar household item). This observation is only a short phase of the boiling process; the start time of the observation (t = 0) is not the start time of the boiling process. The data is mathematically described using a diagram and a function that students have learned in the curriculum. Using their knowledge of linear functions, graphs of linear functions, points on the graph, systems of linear equations with two variables, calculations, etc., and their mathematical abilities, students can solve the requirements of the problem," a representative from the Department of Education and Training stated.

Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training, emphasized: "During the grading process, according to general regulations, cases where students have solutions that differ from the grading guidelines but are reasonable will be considered and evaluated. Examiners will grade all logical solutions, based on the correct formulas and accuracy of the results."

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