From the loophole in the competency assessment test: Need to untangle the "maze" of university admissions

(Dan Tri) - Recently, the controversy surrounding the competency assessment exam (CAP) organized by Ho Chi Minh City National University has become the focus of public attention, especially parents and candidates.

Dan Tri Newspaper has deeply reflected on the loopholes in the organization, raising many questions about the fairness, transparency and effectiveness of the largest national high school graduation exam in the country.

The articles pointed out many shortcomings: from candidates taking 30 minutes to do the test, unsatisfactory problem handling, concerns about the unusually "skewed" score distribution, to the pressure from having too many exams weighing heavily on parents and students.

In response to these comments, Mr. Vu Hai Quan, Director of Ho Chi Minh City National University, admitted: "There are shortcomings, they must be overcome!"

However, the way the organizing unit handles the loopholes seems not to be enough to appease the anger of parents and candidates, who have invested their efforts, money and future in this exam.

Hundreds of comments have been posted under the posts.

We invite you to read the articles:

The "hundred billion" competency assessment exam and the question about loopholes in the organization

Candidates lost 30 minutes in the country's biggest university entrance exam: An apology is... over?

The loophole in the "hundred billion" competency assessment exam: Can't just say sorry and... be done with it

"Hundred billion" capacity assessment exam: Need to clarify unusually skewed score distribution

From the "hundred billion" competency assessment exam loophole: Should we return to a joint exam?

Loopholes in the "hundred billion" competency assessment exam: There are shortcomings, they must be overcome!

Voters complained about the increased pressure and cost, what did the Minister say?

Protecting Candidates' Rights: It Can't Just Be a Meaningless Apology

Reader Phan Nhan could not help but feel heartbroken and had to exclaim bitterly:

“Oh my God! How is that fair? My nephew came back from the exam and said he had 120 minutes to do the test, and he couldn’t finish it in time. It’s heartbreaking.” From there, readers questioned the supervisory capacity of the Organizing Committee, leaders, and the Examination Council to let such a thing happen and then make meaningless apologies.

Nguyen Tuan's harsh comment: "If you come late, your qualifications will be revoked, you will lose a year of studying, the teachers will waste 30 minutes and then apologize and that's it."

Many comments emphasized the hardships of candidates and their families, in return for disrespectful treatment.

Reader Pham expressed: “12 years of studying of the students, how much dedication and money, and the hardship of the family to be able to decide the fate of this exam. Yet because of the negligence and irresponsibility of the invigilators and the lack of a satisfactory solution for the students’ losses from the Examination Council. This loss of the students needs to be handled satisfactorily and fairly.”

Thu Anh Hoang was indignant: “This is unacceptable. Do you think that returning 300,000 VND is enough? A whole year of studying, spending time and money to study and then receiving a zero degree. It is so infuriating for the children affected. It is true that you organized it yourself, graded it yourself, and then you do whatever you want.”

Reader Thap Cu Huy even suggested: "Sue in court, this is not a joke. The future of a person's whole life is at stake, it is not a small matter."

To solve the problem, reader Pink suggests 3 things to do immediately: Return rights to candidates and parents; re-evaluate the capacity of all principals, organizers, and supervisors; strictly discipline the principals, organizers, and supervisors.

Reader Duong Yen Nhi expressed: “I feel so sorry for you guys. If you have chosen the path of taking the National High School Exam, it is highly likely that you have focused completely on this exam and now it is very difficult to make up for it in the National High School Exam. Basically, the content of the two exams is too different. I hope you can still try harder.”

Besides the time error, in the comments section, some readers reported that at other testing locations, the organization did not ensure adequate conditions for candidates in terms of facilities or the process of distributing test papers.

Need for close monitoring and review of exams

The loopholes in the organization and question-making process have caused readers to question the competence of the invigilators and the organizing committee. Therefore, it is recommended that the exam be seriously reviewed, closely monitored and re-evaluated.

Reader Vu Tuan shared: “The invigilators need to be trained and their abilities need to be seriously tested through tests. If the invigilators fail, they need to be removed to avoid affecting the university entrance exam.”

Thanh Van's opinion stated: "This exam is very important! So it needs closer supervision."

Regarding the nature of the exam, Lam Huong said: "Saying it is a general knowledge assessment exam is not true to the nature of this exam. This exam should be called a comprehensive knowledge assessment exam, not an individual knowledge assessment exam." This raises questions about the real purpose and effectiveness of the exam.

This reader shares his personal opinion: The National Examination should only be in one or a few subjects (aspects) with thinking questions, not memorization as is currently done. This exam goes against the saying of our ancestors "one profession done well is better than nine professions".

Candidates taking the second round of the competency assessment exam organized by Ho Chi Minh City National University (Photo: Hoang Hoang).

Readers also expressed concerns about the fairness between the exam sessions. Chinh Quoc Truong raised the issue: "If the scores from the two sessions are used to determine the scores, they need to be adjusted, otherwise it will be unfair to the candidates."

Reader Dung Nhu also stated: "It is impossible to find a common ground between these exams because the exam has completely random test questions with a limited number of people evaluating the questions, how can we test all the corners of knowledge, is there really fairness between the two exams?"

Other ideas focused on improving the national exam and managing the organization of separate exams.

Nguyen Bien Gioi pointed out the shortcomings in the way the questions of the National High School Exam were created at a unit: The questions were randomly chosen, but "the way the questions were chosen was not scientific at all" as the number of questions was not equal between each test.

Readers also said that some knowledge in the exam questions has not been updated with the 2018 generaleducation program. Not announcing the exam questions is "a fallacy and lack of transparency".

On the contrary, Y Gop supports the application of the National Assessment of Student Achievement (NPA) exams: "The application of TSA (thinking ability) or SAT in recent years is a step forward and change in education to approach international standards. I have also looked at the questions about TSA and found them to be highly practical."

Proposal to consider common exams to untangle the admission "maze"

Due to the loopholes in the "hundred billion" university entrance exam, public opinion is concerned about fairness, transparency, waste, and pressure. Many opinions have expressed the desire to unify the university entrance exam.

Le Hoa shared the misery of having to study for both exams when the content of the National High School Graduation Exam and the High School Graduation Exam are so different.

“The National High School Graduation Exam should be abolished. I have a child in grade 12. The National High School Graduation Exam in math is biased towards 10th and 11th grade knowledge, while the national exam program focuses on 12th grade knowledge, so I have to let my child study for both exams… causing stress and frustration for him. I think that eliminating the National High School Graduation Exam is necessary, helping children focus more on their development and reducing costs.”

Nguyen Cong Hoang said: “It is best to return to the two exams as before: High school graduation and university entrance exam. I heard that the university entrance exam should be abolished to reduce pressure and costs, but after abolishing it, we will focus on the National High School Graduation Exam, and there will be many scandals behind it.”

Minh Duc agrees: "Personally, I think we should organize the high school graduation exam first, then organize a unified university entrance exam for the whole country, eliminate all forms of university admission based on academic records, and eliminate the national high school entrance exam, which is both costly and does not reflect the true nature of the candidates."

Many readers also support keeping the current common exam organized by the Ministry, but the questions need to be more appropriate for university admission scores. This creates fairness for all candidates.

"Organize the graduation exam properly and seriously, then use these scores to consider university admissions. Get rid of anything called "high school graduation exam" so that students and parents can benefit. Organizing more exams will make it more ridiculous," commented reader Nam.

Nguyen Thi Thu Huong said: "I wish there was only one common exam to avoid wasting money on families."

Nguyen Huy Thanh commented: “Supporting one high school graduation exam and using it for university admission. Eliminating all national high school graduation exams… is both unfair and costly.”

Reader Ngoc Nguyen said: "We should not follow the "ego" of each school, without the unity of the Ministry of Education and Training ."

Reader Dan Hong expressed his general frustration: "University entrance exams are now like a maze, with hundreds of flowers blooming, each school sets its own style, making it very difficult for families and students." Readers hope for "a revolution to eliminate exams in this historic year of 2025 from the Government."

The above reader also thinks that if we want to organize a separate assessment exam, it should only be for specific fields such as: Medicine, pedagogy, high technology...

Do Manh Ha describes this "maze" more clearly: "Competing for a place in the National High School Exam is already difficult, no different from gambling. When you are lucky enough to be chosen, you have to travel hundreds of kilometers to a place with conditions to take the exam.

After the exam, the scores must be converted for admission. Some schools recognize the results, some don't. Then, you register your wishes at the school, register on the Ministry's website... It's no different from a maze for parents and students who are not knowledgeable about information technology or those who do not have the conditions will definitely be at a disadvantage. What a mess."

However, there are also opinions that only using high school graduation exam scores for admission is not appropriate.

Pham Van Thang commented: "The problem of the quality of the high school graduation exam is so poor that schools cannot use it to select candidates, not to mention the negative effects of considering academic records. We should abolish the high school graduation exam because every year the whole country achieves a 97% graduation rate and organize a common university entrance exam to select excellent candidates for schools."

Reader Nga Vu shared more thoughts when asking the Ministry of Education and Training to announce the change early to avoid the situation where children rush into studying, wasting time and effort, and then in the end, they are announced to cancel.

In general, although there are many different views on the exam format, they all share the desire to have a fair and transparent university admission system that reduces pressure and costs for candidates and their families.

Questions about loopholes in the recent National High School Exam are a warning bell, showing that it is time for the Ministry of Education and Training to make strong adjustments so that the path to university is no longer a "maze" full of shortcomings.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/tu-lo-hong-thi-danh-gia-nang-luc-can-go-roi-me-cung-tuyen-sinh-dai-hoc-20250622090033192.htm