Vietnam national exam asks 1.2 million students how to cultivate local tech innovators

Over 1.2 million Vietnamese high school students took their national graduation literature exam on Thursday, encountering an essay prompt that asked how the country could nurture its own version of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

The mandatory 120-minute test, which determines both high school graduation eligibility and university admissions, departed from its traditional focus on classical poetry and fiction. The exam’s social-argumentation section explicitly named American technology founders Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk, asking 18-year-old candidates to write a short essay on how Vietnam can create similar global innovators.

“This is a good, open-ended question that encourages students to think about education, society, and policies that foster innovation,” said Le Anh Vinh, head of the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences under the Ministry of Education and Training.

The technology-focused prompt coincides with broader national economic policies. In recent years, the Vietnamese government has explicitly identified the semiconductor industry, artificial intelligence, and high-tech manufacturing as strategic priorities for foreign investment and domestic growth.

However, the question’s macroeconomic scope sparked public debate regarding exam realities. Educational commentators raised concerns that the pressure of a timed test might lead candidates to rely on broad slogans rather than developing substantive solutions for complex structural issues.

Following the exam, discussions on national educational forums also highlighted an urban-rural divide. Commentators questioned whether students in remote mountainous provinces have the same foundational knowledge of foreign technology billionaires as their peers in major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The literature paper is the first of several subjects tested during the two-day National High School Graduation Exam, which is based on Vietnam's updated 2018 general education curriculum. Official results are scheduled to be released on July 1.