Nearly 85 percent of high school graduates in Vietnam say cheating is common during 12th-grade exams, a new survey has found.
Following pass rates of close to 99 percent in national exams last month, a three-percentage point rise on 2011, the survey by state-run newspapers and sociologists published on Monday also found that more than 83 percent of students had seen their peers copy each others' answers.
The findings follow a series of videos posted on the internet that appear to show Vietnamese students cheating in this year’s national exams in subjects including maths, chemistry and foreign languages, all of which determine entry to university.
Professor Pham Minh Hac, chairman of the Association of Former Teachers, said that although an increasing body of evidence pointed to foul play by the majority of students, when it came to admitting what they had done “they told the truth about cheating and dishonesty in exams.”
Cheating was evident from the near-perfect pass rates, he added, which negatively affected the quality of education in Vietnam.
The survey also found that schools themselves were often involved in cheating. Results showed that more than a third of invigilators ignored students when they discussed questions during exams, while more than 10 percent helped them with answers.
Banh Tien Long, a former vice-minister of education and training, said it was time to overhaul Vietnam’s education system in the wake of the scandal.
“A student’s performance should be evaluated during the process of their studies and by various other means, not just by their exam marks,” he said.
Nearly one million 12th-grade students took final exams across the country from June 2 to 4.