A Tuyên Quang police representative briefs reporters on the investigation progress at a press conference on July 9. — VNA/VNS Photo

TUYÊN QUANG — A further 15 people in the Tuyên Quang exam-cheating case have been charged, bringing the total number of suspects to 19, authorities said on Monday.

All 15 face charges of abusing their position while performing official duties, the same count used against the four suspects charged earlier, including Trần Thị Thu Hằng, deputy principal of Nguyễn Văn Huyên High School and head of the exam site at the Tuyên Quang High School for the Gifted, and Nguyễn Hà Duy, a math teacher at the school who also served as the site's exam secretary.

The facade of the Tuyên Quang High School for the Gifted. — Photo baotuyenquang.com.vn

The case began after students in the northern province of Tuyên Quang recorded 154 perfect math scores in this year's national high school graduation exam, up from zero in 2025.

Of those, 147 came from a single school – Tuyên Quang High School for the Gifted – where the average math score reached 9.58 out of 10, an anomaly that prompted suspicion of fraud.

Police alleged that Hằng, who ran the exam site, directed proctors to let students break testing rules during the math exam, and that Duy entered exam rooms on her orders to coach students and feed them answers.

"Initial findings indicate the suspects were driven by a desire for achievement; they wanted students to score well," a police officer said.

The investigation is ongoing. — VNS