Vietnam's biggest exam kicks off

They started off with a two-hour test in Literature from 7:35 a.m.

In Hanoi, around 98,000 students woke up at 4-5 a.m. to have breakfast and prepare for the day ahead.

They needed to be present at the exam venue by 6:45 a.m., but many decided not to take any chances and arrived early.

At the Yen Hoa Middle School in Cau Giay District, no one showed up late. Thanks to the generous sidewalks and police officers directing traffic, there was no congestion at the school gates.

Students' family members were directed to the Yen Hoa Primary School and Cau Giay District Cultural House nearby to wait.

At the Nam Trung Yen Middle School, Hoang Viet, a 20-year-old army recruit, said he arrived at 6 a.m. to take the exam. His platoon is stationed just two kilometers away and so it did not take him much time, he said.

In Da Nang's Tran Phu High School too students started streaming in early in the morning to also give themselves time for last-minute reviews of lessons.

More than 40 volunteers were stationed there to help students go through procedures.

Outside the school gates, some parents ran back and forth to request volunteers to check the documents to make sure nothing was missing.

In Ho Chi Minh City, over 85,000 students took their exams at 158 venues.

Outside Trung Vuong High School, parents caused a minor traffic jam, and personnel were dispatched to direct vehicles.

In Can Tho, over 12,000 students took the exam Thursday morning.

After finishing the Literature paper in the morning, students will write the Math exam starting at 2:30 p.m.

On Friday they will write the natural sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) or social sciences (History, Geography, Ethics) exam in the morning and the Foreign Language paper in the afternoon.