328 students from Tuyên Quang High School for the Gifted will be required to retake their national graduation examination, leading to criticism and debate over fairness and transparency in Việt Nam.
The Latest: The Ministry of Education and Training ordered all 328 candidates at the Tuyên Quang High School for the Gifted’s testing site to retake every subject in the national high school graduation examination on Aug. 14 and 15, with results expected on Aug. 19.
- This has triggered a wave of criticism on social media, with several legal experts questioning whether the ministry’s response is appropriate, legally justified, and fair to innocent students.
The Details: The ministry issued the retake order on the morning of Aug. 5, stating that the decision was based on preliminary findings from the Ministry of Public Security’s investigation, existing graduation-exam regulations, and recommendations from relevant agencies.
- “The retest is intended to ensure the examination is safe, serious, honest, objective, and fair,” the ministry said, adding that it was “not a disciplinary measure against candidates at the testing site.”
On Aug. 7, the Tuyên Quang provincial government announced the creation of a provincial steering committee to organize the retest.
- Đỗ Anh Tuấn, vice chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, was appointed to lead it.
Luật Khoa called the Ministry of Education and Training and the Tuyên Quang provincial education department using the telephone numbers listed on their websites, but no one answered.
Social Media Takes: The decision quickly became a major topic of debate online.
On Aug. 4, the Threads account tundreamin_ wrote: “They’re letting Tuyên Quang High School for the Gifted retake the exam? How is that fair? What about the people behind it? And students who cheated still get another chance this year?”
- By 11 a.m. on Aug. 7, the post had received more than 10,000 likes and 1,000 comments.
On Aug. 5, the Threads account acupofdumbb received more than 1,100 likes after questioning the apparent inconsistency across provinces:
“In Tuyên Quang, they say the 328 students must be treated humanely and according to educational principles. They cannot assume that all 328 are guilty because some are still minors. Responsibility lies with the examination council, so the students must retake the exam.
But in Quảng Trị, they said each candidate’s wrongdoing had been individually assessed. Does this mean that if cheating occurs on a large enough scale and authorities cannot determine who is guilty, those who benefited from the misconduct get another chance?”
On Aug. 6, the Threads account buianh.2312 raised further questions regarding transparency:
- “Never before have the identities of those charged been kept this confidential. Many people have been charged, but only three names have been disclosed.”
- “Authorities determined that suspects colluded with parents, yet no parents have been publicly identified.”
- “A month has passed since the first suspect was charged, but authorities still have not identified even one student who cheated.”
Experts’ Opinion: Legal experts remain divided on the situation.
Atty. Lê Ngọc Luân argued that the plan may not comply with the law unless the ministry provides a specific legal basis for canceling the results and organizing a retest.
- “What law allows 18-year-old students who deliberately cheated—with assistance from officials and teachers who have since been charged—to retake the exam?” Lê Ngọc Luân asked.
- He also questioned whether candidates who cheated elsewhere in Việt Nam would receive the same opportunity and whether treating the Tuyên Quang students differently violates principles of equal application of the law.
Conversely, Atty. Hoàng Hà called the retest a reasonable and equitable response, stressing that authorities must distinguish between invalidating examination results and determining each candidate’s individual responsibility.
- “These are two entirely different legal questions,” Hoàng Hà said. “The results from the entire testing site may be invalid because the examination process lost its integrity. But that does not mean all 328 candidates cheated.”
- He noted that a student who completed the exam independently could still be required to retake it because the state can no longer guarantee that the original results were produced under fair conditions.
- “That student suffers a disadvantage, but it does not mean the student cheated,” he said.
University Admission: Regarding admissions, the candidates’ original results from the June 11-12 graduation examination will not be used for university placement.
- However, Professor Nguyễn Tiến Thảo, director of the ministry’s Higher Education Department, stated that the candidates’ application records and university preferences would remain intact.
- “This will not affect the admissions process for other candidates and is intended to protect the rights of everyone involved,” Nguyễn Tiến Thảo said.
After the retest results become available—and investigators provide updated information—the ministry will process admissions using the students’ existing applications, he said.
The Background: On July 1, the Ministry of Education and Training released the results of Việt Nam’s 2026 national high school graduation examination.
- Nationwide, 4,208 mathematics papers received perfect scores with Tuyên Quang accounting for 154 of them.
Most of the perfect scores were concentrated within a consecutive range of candidate numbers—from 080163xx to 080166xx—corresponding to the 328 candidates at the testing site.
- Students from Tuyên Quang High School for the Gifted received 147 of the province’s 154 perfect mathematics scores, accounting for more than 95%.
On July 4, the provincial examination council sealed and removed all perfect-score mathematics papers for review.
Police detained teacher Nguyễn Hà Duy, 28, on July 5.
Two days later, Deputy Prime Minister Lê Tiến Châu instructed the ministry to review the 2026 graduation-exam results nationwide.
On July 8, police charged Nguyễn Hà Duy with abusing his position and authority while performing official duties.
By Aug. 5, investigators confirmed that 29 defendants had been charged in connection with the case.
Thành Phương wrote this news article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on August 5, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine translated it into English.
