Six documents from the Ministry of Education and Training have caused public outrage.

Dr. Hoang Ngoc Vinh, former Director of the Department of Vocational Education, Ministry of Education and Training, said that recently, several issues have significantly affected the reputation of the education sector, related to the national high school exam reform project and some immature statements from the ministry's leaders.

"These incidents remind the industry to be more cautious in its statements and to conduct more thorough research before making decisions," Mr. Vinh said.

Following the controversial draft circular expelling students for prostitution for the fourth time, Professor Pham Tat Dong, Vice President of the Vietnam Association for the Promotion of Learning, commented that this incident reveals the extreme incompetence of the minister's support staff, leading to very basic and unacceptable mistakes.

Regulations that are merely for show.

Referring to the draft circular on regulations for student affairs in teacher training programs at the college and intermediate levels, which is currently open for public comment, lawyer Vu Tien Vinh - Director of Bao An Law Firm, Hanoi - said that if a student is caught engaging in prostitution for the fourth time, this could be understood as "professional practice."

Lawyer Vinh pointed out four inconsistencies in the draft. Firstly, the current database system for administrative penalties is incomplete, making it difficult to track how many times a person has committed the same offense.

Secondly, Vietnamese law does not provide for authorities to publicly disclose the personal information of individuals who have committed administrative violations related to prostitution.

With this regulation, the school cannot obtain information on how many times a student has violated the rules. Furthermore, publicly disclosing a student's violation count constitutes a violation of privacy. Students have the right to sue the agency that provided the violation data to the school.

Thirdly, the draft's provision that students who engage in prostitution for the fourth time will be expelled is merely a formality and has no real effect.

Fourth, according to the lawyer, the concept of "prostitution" is understood to include harboring and brokering prostitution, but the draft only stipulates the act of "harboring and brokering prostitution" in section 16, and even a first-time violation will result in expulsion from school.

Teachers who beat students can be fined up to 30 million VND.

Earlier in October, the Ministry of Education and Training released a draft decree on administrative penalties for violations in the field of education, aiming to prevent negative occurrences in the educational environment.

Specifically, Article 32 of the draft stipulates: "A fine of VND 10 million to VND 20 million shall be imposed for acts that insult the dignity and honor of students. A fine of VND 20 million to VND 30 million shall be imposed for acts that violate the physical integrity of students."

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Binh, Principal of Le Quy Don Secondary and High School in Hanoi, said that the handling of teachers is governed by the law on civil servants and public employees, and teachers who violate the law will be disciplined.

Therefore, the ministry needs to reconsider whether or not to apply Article 32. Paying fines sometimes feels like… paying money to erase the offense.

According to lawyer Do Hai Binh from the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, Clause 2, Article 32 of the draft stipulates "A fine of 20 million to 30 million VND will be imposed for acts of physical assault against students," but it does not specify what constitutes an act of physical assault against students.

If the draft is approved, Article 32 of the decree will overlap with provisions of existing law.

Writing in textbooks is prohibited.

On September 24th, following public outrage over the monopolistic and wasteful use of textbooks for many years, Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha issued a directive prohibiting students from writing or drawing in textbooks, which he said was wasteful.

The Ministry requests that directors of provincial Departments of Education and Training instruct local educational institutions to ensure that every administrator, teacher, and student understands the importance of preserving textbooks for use and reuse. Simultaneously, institutions should guide students in studying textbooks to carry out learning activities and record learning results in their notebooks, prohibiting writing or drawing in the books.

According to many teachers, the Ministry of Education and Training's requirement not to write in textbooks is merely addressing the symptoms. The important thing is to redesign the books to suit their intended purpose.

Following mixed public reactions, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Deputy Head of the Secondary Education Department, Ministry of Education and Training, stated that the directive aimed to instruct teachers to guide students to limit writing in textbooks, not to completely prohibit it.

This is not a mandatory requirement, but rather an encouragement for teachers to implement active teaching methods and guide students not only to take care of and preserve books, but also to have a good sense of responsibility for using books in the long term.

Inconsistent

On August 31st, in response to questions from the press during a regular government meeting regarding the wasteful use of single-use textbooks, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Huu Do stated that during a trip to Lai Chau, he observed old textbooks being reused. However, on September 20th, Deputy Minister Nguyen Huu Do himself sent a document to the press providing contradictory information.

The Deputy Minister explained that the current textbooks are the versions that have been used consistently for many years. In addition to traditional questions and exercises (essays), the textbooks include multiple-choice exercises such as fill-in-the-blanks, true/false questions, and matching exercises.

At the same time, he affirmed that students should not be required to do exercises or write directly in the textbook, but should do them in their notebooks or workbooks. If teachers do not provide guidance from the beginning of the school year and remind them regularly, students will develop the habit of writing directly in the textbook, causing waste.

Withdraw the proposal.749 billion VND

In May, public opinion was abuzz about the Ministry of Education and Training's proposal for "Reforming the national high school graduation exam and university, college, and vocational teacher training admissions for the 2018-2020 period."

According to this exam reform plan, the national high school graduation exam will consist of five subjects: Mathematics, Literature, Foreign Language, Natural Sciences combined test, and Social Sciences combined test. The Ministry of Education and Training will develop a sufficiently large standardized question bank, increasing the differentiation of the exam to meet the requirements of organizing the national high school graduation exam according to the current general education program.

The total cost of implementing the project is over749 billion VND, of which more than 2018 was spent.344 billion VND, in 2019 more203 billion VNDand more in 2020201 billion VND.

Shortly afterwards, the proposal was withdrawn on the morning of May 22nd. The Ministry of Education and Training stated that Minister Phung Xuan Nha had directed a review of the proposal's content, finding that the financial aspects were calculated by integrating information from various related sources, resulting in overlaps, some impractical elements, and some items being indirect costs rather than direct expenses for organizing the exams.

The Minister directed that the proposal be withdrawn for further refinement, and the drafting team should seriously learn from this experience in developing proposals and projects, especially when calculating financial aspects.

The Ministry of Education and Training acknowledges that the official document caused misunderstanding.

In October 2017, the Ministry of Education and Training issued a document requesting provincial Departments of Education and Training to direct general education institutions to continue adjusting teaching content in a simplified manner to suit the teaching time allocation and actual conditions of the school.

Specifically, the Ministry of Education and Training requires: "Schools must not teach content, exercises, or questions in textbooks that exceed the required level of knowledge and skills of the current general education program. Absolutely no teaching of content outside of textbooks is permitted."

According to Dr. Trinh Thu Tuyet, former teacher at Chu Van An High School in Hanoi, textbooks are one of the important factors, but not the only one, in providing knowledge and skills to students.

Agreeing with the above opinion, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen Thao - a teacher at Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted, Ho Chi Minh City - expressed concern that current textbooks are outdated, especially history textbooks.

Later that evening, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Deputy Director of the Secondary Education Department, Ministry of Education and Training, explained that the wording had caused a misunderstanding, implying that the Ministry only allowed teachers to use textbooks for teaching purposes. This was not in line with the Ministry's directive.