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In addition to IELTS and other English certificates, Chinese, Japanese and Korean language certification exams in Vietnam have also been postponed.
On the morning of November 10, on the website of IDP - one of two IELTS test organizers in Vietnam, an announcement was made to postpone the IELTS test until further notice. "This is a force majeure situation and all organizations that issue foreign language proficiency certificates must comply," the announcement said.
Similar information was also sent to candidates who registered for IELTS at the British Council yesterday afternoon. According to the British Council, this decision was "beyond our control".
"When exams are rescheduled will depend on approval from the Ministry of Education and Training and we are working closely with the Ministry to obtain the necessary approvals as soon as possible," the statement said, adding that all affected candidates would be offered a free exam rescheduling.
According to the records, the Center for Foreign Languages and Information Technology (Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City) has temporarily suspended organizing foreign language certificate exams from September 10 until further notice. This center is a partner in organizing Cambridge University certificate exams such as YLE (Starters, Movers, Flyers), PET, KET, FCE, TKT (teaching English); in addition, there are also PTE and TOELF certificates (Junior, Primary, ITP).
Not only English exams, Chinese proficiency tests (HSK, HSKK), Korean (TOPIK) and Japanese (NAT-Test) also have to be postponed.
On September 15, the HSK international Chinese proficiency test site at the Confucius Institute, Hanoi University posted a notice on its fanpage about the temporary suspension of the HSK and HSKK proficiency test on October 16 and November 19 until further notice.
HQ Company, the authorized organization for the NAT-TEST (Japanese Language Proficiency Test for Foreigners) at its Hanoi campus, also announced on October 21 that it would cancel the exam scheduled for October 23. The upcoming December exam at the University of Transport has also been postponed, and registered candidates will receive a refund.
A Korean language expert shared that the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) in Hanoi is also temporarily suspended.
According to many exam organizers, the suspension of international language certification exams is to complete procedures according to Circular 11/2022 of the Ministry of Education and Training dated July 26 on joint organization of foreign language proficiency certification exams. According to this Circular, organizations and individuals are only allowed to organize foreign language proficiency certification exams when there is an approval decision or a decision to extend the joint organization of exams from the Ministry of Education and Training.
On November 8, the Ministry notified the Departments of Education and Training about strengthening the management of joint organization of foreign language proficiency exams according to the above circular. According to the Ministry of Education and Training, in the past, joint organization of foreign language proficiency exams in Vietnam has not been strictly managed, potentially affecting the rights of test takers.
According to experts, the suspension of international language certification exams has the strongest impact on those who intend to study abroad and 12th graders who use these certificates for university admission. Next are students who need the certificates for graduation and working people.
Nguyen Minh Oanh, manager of an English teaching center in My Dinh, Hanoi, said that the application periods for universities in the US and Europe are quite close together, the most recent being from January to March 2023. In addition, 12th graders also want to take the IELTS test before Tet so that they can focus on studying for the graduation exam and the university entrance exam. Therefore, the postponement of the exam has a significant impact on the study plan as well as the psychology of the students. The number of students at the center who registered for the IELTS test before Tet that Oanh knows is more than 100 people.
An HSK and HSKK testing site in Hanoi said that each year the unit organizes about 11 test sessions. Each session, the largest number of candidates registering for the test is 1,500, the minimum is over 1,000. From now until the end of the year, the unit has two more test sessions. "We have no other option but to wait for the Ministry of Education and Training to grant permission to organize the test. This is the general situation," he said.
In recent years, many Vietnamese universities have tended to recruit students based on IELTS scores and other international language certificates combined with high school transcripts or graduation exam scores. These certificates are also widely used to recognize foreign language output standards for students.
The Ministry of Education and Training said there will be an official announcement today.
According to VnExpress
