Large gap between school and exam scores found

Vietnamese students have become suspiciously excellent with very high reported GPAs (Grade Point Average).



However, the high school final exam scores are much lower.

The statistics released recently by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) showed irregularities in students’ learning and exam results. There is a large gap between the GPA at school and the high school final exam: the average exam score is 2.5 scores lower than GPA.

The score gap is especially high in some localities. In Long An province, for example, the gap is 3.31 score. The smallest gap is seen in Bac Kan province – 1.66 score.

Analysts pointed out that high school students have suspiciously had better learning aptitude in recent years, after MOET decided to allow universities to enroll students based on their learning records at high schools.

They believe that students pay money for high marks, helping them when they apply for universities.

A high school teacher in Hanoi said that many teachers give high marks to help students ‘fabricate’ good school reports which help them easily persuade universities to enroll them.

“I usually receive proposals from students, to give them high marks for school works, so that they can have high GPA at the end of academic year,” the teacher said, adding that high GPA does not truly reflect their abilities.

“In principle, the exam scores better reflect the real capability of students because students cannot cheat at the exams,” he said.

In general, students who want high marks are those who plan to register to study at university. Meanwhile, those who just sit finals to finish general education don’t need this.

This partially explains why the GPAs of students who plan to study at university are higher than the GPAs of students who don’t plan to study further (6.5 points vs 7.5 points).

Educators have found that students at private schools and continuing education schools have score gaps larger than students at state-owned schools.

The score gap is 3 at most of the schools, while it is more than 4 scores at 50 schools. More than 50 percent of high schools throughout the country give students GPAs of 7 and higher.

Many educators have expressed their concern about the new policy set by MOET which allows universities to enroll students based on their records at high schools.

“The policy is nonsensical because GPAs may be fabricated,” the high school teacher said.

He went on to say that if universities enroll students based on inaccurate scores, they will not be able to find the best students.

Kim Chi / vietnamnet