The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has just posted a draft Circular amending and supplementing a number of articles of the National Excellent Student Selection Contest Regulations to collect feedback.
Supplementing the competition to select the Artificial Intelligence Olympic team
One of the notable new points of the draft is to add an exam to select the Artificial Intelligence Olympic team based on candidates registering for Informatics in the National Excellent Student Selection Exam.
According to the Ministry, the addition of the exam aims to meet the requirements of discovering, selecting and training capable students in the field of artificial intelligence; and at the same time, it is consistent with the implementation of Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW, Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW and Decision No. 2422/QD-BGDDT dated August 18, 2026 of the Ministry of Education and Training promulgating the Framework of content for artificial intelligence education for general education students.
Along with that, the draft adjusts the scale of the national excellent student exam team according to the number of high school students in each locality. According to the proposal, each Department of Education and Training is allowed to register a maximum of 10 to 30 candidates for the team for each subject, depending on the scale of high school students. Each national university is allowed to register a maximum of 15 candidates/subject; other exam units are allowed to register a maximum of 10 candidates/subject.
To encourage investment, development and fostering excellent students, especially in subjects in the STEM field, the draft stipulates that teams of subjects with students winning medals at international and regional Olympics established by the Ministry of Education and Training can register to add up to 2 more candidates at the next consecutive year's National Excellent Student Selection Exam.
The exam room is expected to be equipped with cameras, candidates will be checked with metal detectors.
The draft supplements a number of technical solutions to enhance security, safety and supervision capabilities in the process of organizing the Exam.
Accordingly, before candidates enter the exam room, the items and electronic devices they carry are checked and reviewed using metal detectors.
Surveillance cameras are proposed to be arranged in the exam room, corridor area, exam paper storage room and exam paper storage room, continuously recording throughout the exam organization process. The camera system is only connected wired in the local network, without using wireless connection or Internet connection to ensure security, safety and data security.
After the end of the final exam session, the camera data storage device is sealed and preserved for at least 9 months. Camera data is one of the bases for inspection, supervision and handling of violations of the Exam Regulations. Candidates with violations detected through the camera data inspection process may have their exam results canceled according to regulations.
The addition of these solutions aims to strengthen the ability to prevent, detect and handle violations, contributing to ensuring that the Exam is organized seriously and safely.
Exam paper digitized, examiners grade directly on computer
Promoting the application of technology in exam grading is another new point of the draft. Accordingly, paper exam papers are scanned to create digitized copies and examiners directly graded on the software system.
After digitization, the software automatically generates scores for each exam paper and randomly assigns exam papers according to electronic score codes to independent examiners. The examiner is only allowed to access the assigned exam papers, without knowing the information of the candidate or the score results of other examiners.
When the examiners complete the grading, the system automatically compares the results according to each question, opinion or grading criterion. If the results are different, the two examiners must review and agree; in case of disagreement, a third or joint grading may be organized. The grading history and operations on the system are saved for management, inspection, examination and re-examination.
Computer-based grading aims to improve accuracy, objectivity, transparency and efficiency; while reducing time and manpower, limiting errors and increasing consistency in the grading process.
Along with digitizing the grading stage, the draft proposes to shorten the deadline for submitting applications for re-examination to 5 days from the date of announcement of results and issuing Certificates of Results of the National Excellent Student Selection Exam once in electronic form, in accordance with the digital transformation roadmap, issuing diplomas and certificates electronically.
