Nearly 1,000 students in Ho Chi Minh City with IELTS certificates, even from 7.0, received notice that they would not be exempted from taking and scoring 10 English subjects in the graduation exam, two weeks before the exam took place.
Mr. Le Ngoc, 48 years old, residing in Hoc Mon district, Ho Chi Minh City, shared that in early May, when registering for the high school graduation exam, his child registered to be exempted from the English exam because he had an IELTS certificate of 7.0 overall. The certificate was issued by IDP on September 22, 2022, and is valid for two years.
According to the instructions sent by the Ministry of Education and Training to localities on April 17, candidates with an IELTS certificate of 4.0 or higher or equivalent are exempted from the exam and have their 10 English subjects counted for their high school graduation score. The certificate is valid until at least June 27, 2023. Therefore, Mr. Ngoc's child does not review for this subject but focuses on reviewing the remaining subjects.
On June 13, his child received a notice from the school that he was not eligible for exemption from the English exam, according to the new guidelines of the Department of Quality Management, Ministry of Education and Training on June 9. In this guideline, the Department of Quality Management stated that the legal certificate was issued to candidates taking the exam before September 10, 2022.
"My child took the exam on September 9-10, was granted a certificate on September 22 and was considered illegal," said Mr. Ngoc.
"My son studied and took exams, getting a real certificate. Suddenly, yesterday the school announced that his certificate was illegal, while there are only two weeks left until the high school graduation exam. My son is very confused now," Mr. Ngoc continued.
The father could not accept that his son had achieved 7.0 IELTS but was not exempted from the English subject while the candidate had an IELTS certificate of 4.0 within the prescribed time which was converted to 10 points.
Mr. Ngoc's IELTS certificate was issued on September 22, 2022. Photo: NVCC
An official from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training said that in recent days, the Department has received many cases of 12th grade students with foreign language certificates issued between September 10 and November 11, 2022, who are questioning and upset like Mr. Ngoc's child because they are not exempted from the high school graduation foreign language exam.
"The Department is compiling a list of affected cases to send a letter to the Ministry of Education and Training for comments," he said. According to preliminary statistics, about 1,000 students in Ho Chi Minh City are in this situation. Many other localities are also confused by the Ministry's new instructions.
The Ministry's new guidance was issued because in July 2022, the Ministry issued Circular No. 11 regulating the joint organization of foreign language proficiency certification exams in Vietnam. This Circular requires that joint organization of foreign language proficiency certification exams must be licensed by the Ministry of Education and Training.
The circular takes effect from September 10, 2022. However, it was not until early November that the units announced the suspension of IELTS testing. It was not until mid-November that the Ministry of Education and Training gradually re-issued licenses.
According to officials at the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, this is the basis for the Ministry not to recognize certificates taken and issued from September 10 to November 11, 2022.
"For certificates issued after November 11, 2022, we also have to carefully check which unit organizes the exam, issues it, have they been licensed, etc. It's very confusing," he shared.
Mr. Ngoc did not discuss how the units had to stop testing foreign language certificates. It was clear that his child had taken the test and received the certificate. In fact, the test date was September 9-10, the exact time the circular took effect.
"If the certificate your child was issued during that time is invalid, the Ministry of Education and Training must have provided early guidance so that your child can have a plan to review or retake the exam. Why did they issue guidance just two weeks before the exam, even though the other units had to stop organizing the exam since last year?", the parent asked.
In May, Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy rejected the IELTS certificates of 44 candidates for postgraduate admission because these certificates were issued before November 17, 2022 - the date when the Ministry of Education and Training licensed test-organizing units and issued IELTS certificates again after the postponement.
On May 16, the school announced that it would accept IELTS certificates issued before November 17, 2022. The Department of Quality Management, Ministry of Education and Training, on April 28 confirmed that foreign language certificates issued before the above date are still valid for admission and training.
Duong Tam - Nhat Le
*Parents' names have been changed
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