Education official arrested in Hà Giang exam cheating scandal

HÀ GIANG — The investigation bureau of the Hà Giang police yesterday began criminal proceedings against a senior education official accused of manipulating school tests.

They issued a three-month temporary detention warrant for Vũ Trọng Lương, born in 1978, for his involvement in the national high school graduation exam cheating scandal in the northern mountainous province.

Lương, who is Deputy Chief of the Examination and Quality Control division under the provincial Department of Education and Training, is charged with “abusing position and power while on duty”.

Initial investigations revealed Lương allegedly took advantage of his position and power to change results of test sheets of 114 students in Hà Giang which were adjusted 1.0-8.5 points (out of 10) for each subject.

Several students ended up with results 20 points higher, or even more, than they should have got. One was 29.95 points better off.

Further investigation into the scandal is underway.

The results of national high school examinations have been used for four years to determine if a student gets a place at university.

Since 2017, the multi-choice form has been applied to all tests except for literature. In 2018, MoET tightened the exam’s security by sealing bags of answer sheets with signatures of supervisors and universities’ representatives.

This year’s exam was taken by 5,400 Hà Giang students. In the top 11 students nationwide with highest scores, the province contributed three. — VNS