Vietnam - What’s wrong with history?

Following recently reported record low scores in the history section of the national university entrance exam that took place earlier this month, educators throughout the country have entered a heated debate over what causes the decline.

As statistics released by hundreds of universities around the country show, the number of students who scored average (5.0 points out of 10) or above in the history test makes up a minuscule 0.3-5.0 percent, the lowest in the past few years.

Figures from Tien Giang University in the southern province of Tien Giang reveal 98 percent of the candidates who sat for the history test had a below-average score. Specifically, the highest mark is only 5.25, while 47 of its 253 test takers scored zero.

In the central province of Quang Nam, 99 percent of the history test takers at Quang Nam University failed to get an average score of 5.0 in July’s exam, the school said.

At Ton Duc Thang University in Ho Chi Minh City, an equally high percentage of the candidates, 99.6 percent, also failed to get an average score on the history test.

Only 3.6 percent of the candidates taking the test at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Culture had an average or above-average score.

Saigon University in the southern hub complained that only 5 percent of its 2,300 history test takers could get a 5.0.

“This is unprecedented,” an examiner at Quy Nho University in the central province of Binh Dinh sighed.

Assoc Prof Ha Minh Hong, dean of the history faculty at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) in Ho Chi Minh City, said the test questions this year challenged the rote learning method, resulting in such dismally low scores.

As Hong pointed out, to get an average score, the students need to think critically and connect the dots, not simply to regurgitate the information from the textbook.

“It was a really tough test,” Huynh Duc Thien, a history lecturer at USSH, concurred.

Why the dismal results?

“We simply did not have enough time in class,” many teachers explained. 

With history often regarded as a ‘second-rate’ subject, high school students have only one or two 45-minute sessions a week, hardly enough time to drill them in the subject, many teachers complained.

Thinking about or analyzing a historical event is virtually impossible within such short periods of time. The problem becomes worse when the goal of the textbook is mainly to cram the students with as much information as possible within the allotted time.

Even seasoned teachers of history admitted that they have trouble trying to cover all the materials the Ministry of Education and Training require them to go through with their students in class.

Nguyen Ai Hang, a history teacher at Tran Phu High School in Ho Chi Minh City, said they are lucky to have enough time to present a skeletal outline of an event to the students, much less analyze or help them think critically about it as demanded by the exam’s questions.

“We should review the curriculum of this subject, and the time allocation for it as well. How can you cover all historical events and at the same time teach your students to think critically about them with just one or two classes a week?” complained Pham Van Roanh, another history teacher at Bui Thi Xuan High School in Ho Chi Minh City.

Having just one or two classes a week, 12th-graders who sit for the university entrance exam after graduation are expected to memorize almost everything about world history from 1945 till now and Vietnam’s history from 1919 until present.

Many teachers suggested designing a more ‘relaxed’ curriculum to replace such an ‘ambitious’ one.

“The textbook is so thick, packed with so many events, dates, and statistics, and yet we have very limited time to learn it,” Vuong Linh, a student protested.

Vietnam’s national university entrance exam 

The national university entrance exam is administered annually by the Ministry of Education and Training on July 4 and 5 or 9 and 10.

To be admitted to the university of their choice, high school graduates are required to pass admission tests on a set of three subjects among math, physics, chemistry, biology, literature, history, geography, and foreign languages (either English, German, French, Japanese, Russian, or Chinese), depending on their majors.

2011 history test questions prepared by the Ministry of Education and Training

Question 1 (3 points)

Analyze the reasons why Nguyen Tat Thanh left Vietnam to find ways to liberate his country.

Question 2 (2 points)

What are the differences between the Political Thesis of the Indochinese Communist Party issued in October 1930 and the first political platform of the Communist Party of Vietnam?

How were those differences resolved between 1939 and 1945?

Question 3 (2 points)

What victory helped the Vietnamese achieve their stated mission of “driving the Americans out of the country” during the resistance war against the U.S. (1945-1975)? Describe the victory’s impact on the development of the revolution in the South.

Choose one of the following two:

Question 4a (3 points)

Write about the establishment and development of the biggest political-economic institution in the world from 1951 to 2000.

Question 4b (3 points)

Give a summary of the emergence of independent countries in Southeast Asia in 1945.

Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Consulting, Investment and Management, focusing three main economic sectors: International PR; Healthcare & Wellness;and Tourism & Hospitality. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programs. Sign up with twitter to get news updates with @SaigonBusinessC. Thanks.