The above content is in the draft circular amending and supplementing a number of regulations on university enrollment and training, announced by the Ministry on the afternoon of September 17.
The Ministry of Education and Training expects that from 2027, there will only be priority points by region and policy beneficiaries. Schools are not allowed to use bonus points set by themselves for achievements, certificates or additional criteria.
This is a prominent new point, besides tightening the admission method for each major.
According to current regulations, in addition to regional priority points and subjects, candidates have 3 types of bonus points prescribed by universities, including: Bonus points for national excellent student awards but not using direct admission rights (maximum 3 points); bonus consideration points for groups with special achievements or talents (maximum 1.5); encouragement points for groups with foreign language certificates or international certificates (maximum 1.5). The total bonus points for a candidate this year are 3/30.
This year's enrollment season, the whole country only has 5 valedictorians achieving 30/30 points in the three-subject combination of the high school graduation exam, but thanks to the types of bonus points, schools still record hundreds of candidates with absolute admission scores, even higher.
Regarding the above proposal, Professor Nguyen Tien Thao, Director of the Higher Education Department, Ministry of Education and Training, said that in reality, bonus points can create inequality because the opportunities to access certificates, exams or activities are different according to economic conditions, location and affordability.
Besides, for the same type of certificate, but the conversion level, addition level and application combination are different between schools. Or a capacity can be recorded twice - both as the admission score component and added - distorting the candidate's order.
Inequality is also reflected in the fact that, with high score groups, even a small percentage of bonus points can change admission results, even if it is not proven that the score level better reflects the learning ability of the program.
A more appropriate approach, according to Mr. Thao, is to properly assess competence, in the right place. Candidates with foreign language proficiency certificates can still be converted into a foreign language subject in the admission combination according to public rules, or used to prove the entry requirements of the foreign language training program.
At that time, the certificate is used as a proof of directly related competence, instead of becoming an extra point outside the scale. The principle is that a competence is recorded once, according to the same rules for all candidates" - Mr. Thao emphasized.
