Vietnam orders 328 students to retake high school graduation exams amid cheating scandal

The Ministry of Education and Training announced on August 5 that 328 students from Tuyen Quang province's specialized high school will have their graduation exam results voided and will be required to retake all subjects. This decision comes after an investigation into unusually high math scores among these students, which raised suspicions of cheating. The retake exams are scheduled for August 14-15, with results to be announced on August 19, and will be used for university and college admissions. The scandal has sparked public outrage and concerns about the fairness of the national examination system, particularly on social media platforms like Threads. To date, 29 individuals, including school leaders and teachers, have been prosecuted in connection with the irregularities. Pham Ngoc Thuong, Deputy Minister of Education and Training, stated that the decision to allow a retake for the 328 students is "reasonable, logical, and legal," aimed at protecting the legitimate interests of the students. He emphasized that the abnormal scores were a consequence of serious violations by exam organizers and not solely the fault of the students. However, the differing treatment compared to other provinces has drawn questions. For instance, in Quang Tri province, five students had their results invalidated but were not allowed to retake the exam, facing a waiting period until 2027 due to individually identified violations. The 2026 high school graduation exam was the largest to date, with over 1.2 million participants. While 74 students were disqualified during the exam for rule violations, allegations of cheating have surfaced in various other localities, including Quang Ninh, Quang Tri, Ca Mau, Bac Ninh, Lao Cai, Phu Tho, and Dak Lak. The Tuyen Quang incident echoes the major cheating scandal in 2018 that rocked Ha Giang, Son La, and Hoa Binh provinces, leading to the prosecution of hundreds of officials and individuals. Notably, Vuong Ngoc Ha, currently Vice Chairman of the Tuyen Quang Provincial People's Committee and head of the provincial exam steering committee, was previously a deputy head of the Ha Giang National Assembly delegation during that scandal. In Tuyen Quang, over 140 out of 328 students at the specialized high school achieved perfect scores in mathematics, with many high scores concentrated among students with consecutive registration numbers. Authorities have determined that these anomalies resulted from collective misconduct by the exam council. Source: BBC Vietnamese