The pool!
(Baonghean) - It's been a long time, Uncle. Have you been reading the newspapers or watching TV these past few days? There's a lot going on.
- Yeah, there's been a lot going on lately, hasn't there? But what exactly are you talking about?
- Ah, it's about the "collapse" of the 34 trillion VND curriculum and textbook reform project. I saw Dr. Giap Van Duong mention in the press that "This comprehensive and fundamental education reform project is likened to a major battle. But before the battle even began, it had already fallen apart."
- But specifically, a dental clinic? 34 trillion VND, not some random project that would collapse like a piece of dried cake, sir?
- Well, since June 2011, the Ministry of Education and Training has been "lurking" with this textbook reform project. At that time, it was estimated to cost over 70,000 billion VND. Wow, if you calculate it in our local way, it would be an impossible amount. But a few weeks ago, it was reduced to only 43,000 billion VND. Then, when people made a fuss, Mr. Pham Vu Luan took to the podium to deny everything. He said this: "In the Government's submission and related documents sent to the National Assembly Standing Committee, there is no such figure, nor any figure regarding the budget. However, during the exchange and discussion of the Government's submission at the recent session, the representative of the Ministry of Education and Training mentioned this estimated figure of 34,000 billion VND, causing a misunderstanding. This is a very regrettable oversight, and the Ministry of Education accepts responsibility for this." This guy is really something. If he didn't agree, how could Deputy Minister Nguyen Vinh Hien dare report that number to the National Assembly Standing Committee? This is like "dropping rain on a jar of rice seeds," sir.
- Sounds troublesome, doesn't it? Imagine, if even within the industry there's such inconsistency, imagine the "inconsistency"—who could possibly accept that outside the industry?
- That's not all, sir. Professor Van Nhu Cuong also said that even with all the expenses, it wouldn't exceed 35 billion, let's say 50 billion for extravagant gifts and decorations, and even that's only 1/700 of the projected budget. So where did the remaining 699 billion go, sir? My wife is so confused. Someone knowledgeable even said the project is called "Textbook Reform...", but the spending on books is only around 100 billion, the rest is for purchasing teaching equipment and a hundred other unnecessary things. Especially in this difficult economic context, the government plans to borrow 400,000 billion dong to repay debt and for consumption in 2014.
- The story isn't over yet, sir. They're only focused on superficial reforms, while the foundations are already shaky. They say teachers these days are like brooms, getting duller the more they sweep. My nephew, who's also in the education sector, says it's rare to find high school teachers who know how to create their own slide presentations using PowerPoint. Principals and vice-principals, when they're in meetings, call it "Pao Poi" lesson design. And the projectors they buy just sit in the cupboard. They buy a whole bunch of computers just to use them when visitors come to film and take pictures.
- Yes, that's right, sir. Whatever we want to do, we should "upgrade" the fundamentals first. People are hoping that after this "failure," the educators will come up with a different approach, otherwise, if we don't even have a "failure" and then we just say "bad luck," we'll be blamed.
Purple Pen
