Exam scores after re-evaluation unusually high?
Recently, in a complaint sent to the authorities and the press, Mrs. Pham Thi D. (born in 1977, residing in Nam Hong commune, Tien Hai district, Thai Binh province) expressed her frustration: "The entrance exam for grade 10 of the 2024 - 2025 school year in Thai Binh province took place from June 6 - 8, 2024, and the results were announced on June 16. When we saw the exam scores, my family and many other parents, students, and teachers from secondary schools across the province were extremely surprised and frustrated because the scores did not reflect the students' actual performance. Despite being encouraged, my child and other children were mentally shocked, depressed, and unstable, and parents had to constantly watch over them and couldn't focus on work for an entire month."
According to Mrs. Duyen, her son, who was an excellent student in Math, was selected to attend a top school in the district for provincial-level competitions in grade 9. In the recent entrance exam for grade 10, he registered to take the exam at Thai Binh Specialized High School.
"After the exam, my child self-assessed his Math score to be around 9.75, Literature and English around 8, and specialized Math around 5.5. However, when the results came out, his regular Math score was only 6.75, specialized Math was 4.25, Literature was 7.5, and English was 7.8," Mrs. Duyen said.
Mrs. Duyen continued, saying that after that, her family and many other parents submitted a large number of re-evaluation requests. The re-evaluation results showed that her son's regular Math score increased from 6.75 to 9, a difference of 2.25 points.
"After the re-evaluation, the scores of the subjects, especially Math and Literature, showed significant discrepancies, with large gaps. We believe that if one student's score is off, it could indicate a series of errors behind it, and the Thai Binh Department of Education and Training should have thoroughly investigated to ensure fairness for the students. Those who deserve to pass the specialized school should be reconsidered, and those who do not meet the requirements should be moved to their first choice, not allowing errors to compound," Mrs. Duyen stated in her complaint.
In her complaint, Mrs. Duyen raised several questions and concerns such as: "How will the students who did not request a re-evaluation be affected?"; "For those whose scores increased from failing to passing after re-evaluation, should there be corresponding students whose scores decreased or went from passing to failing? But currently, no student has been reported to have their scores lowered. Are the high scores of the passing students accurate?"; "Why, from June 16, immediately after noticing many irregularities and numerous feedbacks from teachers and parents, did the Thai Binh Department of Education and Training not stop to review all stages from grading, matching, to entering scores to ensure fairness for the students?"...
Directive to check and review for satisfactory answers
Along with the complaint, Mrs. Duyen provided a list of 18 candidate numbers for the 2024-2025 grade 10 entrance exam in Thai Binh, which she claimed also had significant score changes after re-evaluation.
All these candidate numbers had increased scores after re-evaluation, with one particular candidate number 260459 having their Math score increased from 3.75 to 9.5, a difference of 5.75 points.
Additionally, she mentioned other irregularities such as candidate number 300019 having a regular Math score of 10 but a specialized Math score of only 0.75. Meanwhile, candidate number 300052 had a regular Math score of only 3.5 but a specialized Math score of 8.
"I take full responsibility before the law for the information written in the complaint, including my questions to the authorities and the re-evaluation score data attached to the complaint. I request the authorities to resolve the matter and provide satisfactory answers as soon as possible to avoid students being placed in the wrong classes and to return the correct scores to my child and other students in Thai Binh province," Mrs. Duyen added.
Regarding this matter, in an interview with Lao Dong, some current principals of secondary and high schools in Thai Binh province confirmed the situation as reflected by Mrs. Duyen. However, the cause and extent of the issue still need to be verified and reviewed by the authorities.
"It is definitely not due to the grading process, as the discrepancy between graders is only about 0.25 to 0.5 points, not such a large difference. It could be due to the matching or entering of scores, which also needs to be clarified, transparent, and public for all parents and students to understand," a high school principal commented.
Discussing the resolution and handling of the matter, Mr. Pham Van Nghiem - Vice Chairman of the Thai Binh Provincial People's Committee - said that today, July 30, the Thai Binh Provincial People's Committee will issue a decision to establish an inter-agency inspection team led by the provincial Inspectorate, in coordination with relevant units, to verify the citizen's complaint and clarify the irregularities and controversies related to the recent grade 10 entrance exam scores.
"The province's stance is to act in accordance with the law, addressing and correcting any mistakes thoroughly. Once the verification and review results are available, we will make them public and transparent for parents, students, and the public to understand," Mr. Nghiem said.
