More than a million high-school students are sitting the graduation exam that began on June 2, according to figures from the Ministry of Education and Training.

It began at 2,432 centres across the country with papers in literature and physics.

During the three-day exam, they will also take tests in mathematics, foreign language, biology, and geography.

The foreign language choices are English, Russian, French, German, Japanese, and Chinese.

In HCM City , more than 2,600 high-school teachers are doing duty as invigilators at 111 centres where 69,721 students are sitting the exam

With 2,300, Lai Chau is among the provinces with the fewest number of candidates.

Among them are 33 students who are the first ever to sit the exam from Ca Lang, one of the poorest communes in this northern province 's Muong Te district.

Nguyen Thai Giang, a senior Lai Chau education official, said residents of Ca Lang are proud of this.

All 33 students went to the district high school for a month to revise for the exam.

In Da Nang , 12,990 candidates are sitting the exam. Interestingly, 37 students have been exempted from taking it. Of them, 32 are exceptional students who took part in international talent competitions and the other five are children with visual impairment from Nguyen Thuong Hien High School .

Authorities in Kon Plong and Tu Mo Rong districts in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum have provided an allowance of VND80,000 to VND300,000 to each candidate and provided transport to exam centres. Kon Tum has 3,816 people sitting the exam./.