While Vietnamese teachers are encouraged to break the mold in preparing test and examination questions to spare students from rote learning, some have apparently gone too far.

Test papers in Vietnam are mostly prepared in a way that students can easily get decent scores so long as they learn the lessons by heart and are able to repeat their teachers’ views.

Thought-provoking questions are rare and the students seldom have a chance to have their critical thinking and problem-solving skills tested via exams.

The education sector has therefore called on teachers to be more creative in preparing test and exam papers, putting questions that students would never be able to answer solely through rote learning.

Some teachers have answered the call enthusiastically, but gone further than expected.

Ad-like math question

For instance, a recent math exam for sixth graders in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, had a question that was worded in the form of a 300-word advertisement for a book company.

The question was written as a press release about an auction of six rare dictionaries by MCBooks in Ho Chi Minh City, asking students to figure out the bidding prices of three of the sold books based on a set of data.

One parent, after reading the math problem her child had to solve, said it “looks like an ad for an auction or trading session.”

“The question is not of a pedagogical nature and unsuitable for a math test as it contains too much irrelevant information, misleading the students,” she said.

Le Thi Binh, head of the education bureau of District 1, said the controversial question is linked to “a meaningful charity campaign,” jointly launched by national broadcaster VTV and the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

“The program is meant to help needy students, so we want to educate students about love and kindness through this question,” Binh said.

The official said the education bureau had followed a request by the city’s education department in preparing test questions that are “linked to reality [in order] to ignite the problem-solving skills of students.”

“I can confirm that the there was no commercial purpose in this test and we do not intend to advertise for any individual or business,” she pressed.

Nguyen Van Hieu, deputy director of the municipal education department, said the question maker’s effort to make a math problem “closer to reality” should be appreciated.

“But what should be drawn from this experience is that the names of businesses should not be there,” he admitted.

Korean drama in physics test

South Korean drama, Descendants of the Sun, has recently won over a number of young viewers in Vietnam, and one Ho Chi Minh City high school has turned one of the most romantic scenes of the series into a physics exam question.

In the scene, the male protagonist, captain Yoo Shi Jin, knocks a mobile phone from the hand of the female character, doctor Kang Kang Mo Yeon.

“Supposing the phone is thrown upward at an initial velocity of 18km/h from a point 1.5 meters above the ground, figure out the kinetic, potential and mechanical energy of the object, as well as the max height it reaches,” the question reads.

The question did excite some students, while others did not think it is a good idea for Korean dramas to appear in exams.

According to critics, not all students have watched Descendants of the Sun, and it is therefore unfair for those who have no idea about the film.

Others say that such a question will only encourage young students to idolize South Korean actors and actresses, something parents are trying to stop their children from doing.

Pop singer in chemistry test

Son Tung M-TP, a young pop singer idol, has also appeared in several test papers of different subjects.

In March 2015, tenth graders at a high school in the northern city of Hai Phong were surprised to see the singer appear in a multiple-choice question in their pre-exam chemistry test.

“As he loves eating lollipops during his performances, singer Son Tung M-TP has tooth decay. Choose [among four options] below the correct chemical to help him,” the question reads.

In December 2015, a lecturer at Nha Trang University in south-central Vietnam, was also rapped for his finance and monetary economics exam, which included questions that involved real celebrities and suggestive language.

The questions described situations in which local celebs exchanged fruits, such as grapefruits, oranges and bananas with each other. The questions were deemed inappropriate as the kind of fruits chosen could be interpreted as slang words for sensitive body parts.

In Vietnamese, ‘grapefruit’ is a slang word for large breasts and ‘orange’ for smaller ones, apparently because of their similar shapes, as is ‘banana’ for penis.