On December 11, the Educational Testing Service (ETS), in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Training and IIG Vietnam, inaugurated a comprehensive training program aimed at bolstering the educational testing expertise of officials, lecturers, and teachers across Vietnam.

This initiative is a pivotal step in fulfilling the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in September 2022 between the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training and ETS, coinciding with Minister Nguyen Kim Son’s U.S. visit and subsequent dialogues between ETS, IIG Vietnam, and Ministry leaders in August 2023. A critical aspect of this MOU is the enhancement of testing expertise within Vietnam’s educational sector, particularly for national-level examinations.

Key to this program are the interactive discussions and exchanges, integral to the preparation for the high school graduation exam under the new 2018 general education curriculum, set to be implemented in 2025. This curriculum underscores the importance of assessing student competencies. Spanning seven training sessions, the program is designed to share knowledge, refine testing expertise, and offer guidance on developing test item banks. It targets individuals involved in testing at the Ministry of Education and Training, various education departments, and selected universities and colleges. The objective is to cultivate a team of skilled officials, public employees, teachers, lecturers, and experts proficient in creating test item banks and formulating test items, thereby facilitating the organization of examinations, especially the high school graduation exam from 2025 as per Vietnam’s educational assessment and examination reform roadmap.

At the opening ceremony of the program, Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong emphasized the critical significance of the High School Graduation Examination within our national education system. “This examination is one of the most important exams of the national education system.,” he explained. “It is a measure to evaluate the learning and training results, the graduation recognition of high school students, the teaching results of teachers, and the educational management at all levels.” Deputy Minister Thuong further emphasized the need for meticulous and strategic preparation to ensure the exam’s successful execution. “In order to successfully organize the examination, thorough and methodical preparation is required at all stages, including improving testing expertise, and building exam item banks at all levels. This is a new point and a crucial step in administering the exam and being consistent with testing and assessment in the nationwide teaching and learning process,” he concluded.

The training, conducted online, connects ETS experts from the U.S. with 76 locations throughout Vietnam, engaging 3,591 participants. This includes 40 officials from the Ministry, 252 from 63 Education and Training Departments, 48 from 12 higher education institutions, 3,251 lecturers and teachers nationwide, and IIG Vietnam representatives.

ETS CEO Amit Sevak acknowledged this as the organization’s most extensive online course in Vietnam to date. He expressed ETS’s honor in partnering with Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training to deliver a program that equips Vietnamese testing professionals with world-class techniques and technology, supporting the country’s goal of developing testing expertise. “Over the coming years, we will work together with the MOET to enhance the quality of educational assessments across the board. As you work to create new examinations, we will be there to support you,” he affirmed. Sevak also extended heartfelt thanks to IIG Vietnam for their invaluable role and collaborative efforts in facilitating the program.

Running from December 11 to 17, the program covered various topics, including insights into Vietnam’s high school graduation exam, psychometric concepts, ETS standards for quality and fairness, evidence-centered design, test development process, multiple-choice item writing, evaluation of question quality, and test assembly.

IIG Vietnam, representing ETS in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, takes pride in facilitating and participating in this training program. Their involvement aims to deliver practical and effective outcomes, thereby enhancing Vietnamese testing standards and educational quality, enabling students to access and benefit from global educational standards.