Ministry of Education and Training explains why it only selected 6 compulsory Literature works

One of the issues that the public is concerned about regarding the draft Literature program in the new general education program is why we have to study 6 compulsory works and why we choose those 6 works instead of more or less?

Associate Professor, Dr. Do Ngoc Thong, Editor-in-Chief of Literature, officially responded to this issue.

PV:Please let me knowideabyMinistry of Education and TrainingSelect 6 works to include in the general education literature programnew?

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Do Ngoc Thong:The selection of compulsory works is based on criteria. The draft of the new Literature Program has outlined the criteria and requirements for selecting texts in general, specifically:

Directly serving the development of qualities and abilities according to the goals and requirements of the program; Appropriate to the experience, cognitive capacity, psychological characteristics, and interests of students in each class/level; Helping students to be interested in reading literature; Having special values ​​in content and art, especially having standards and creativity in language; Reflecting achievements in ideology, literature, and national culture such as patriotism, national independence, awareness of national sovereignty, humanity, compassion, tolerance, ... and universal values ​​of humanity.

In addition to the above criteria, the 6 mandatory works (Nam quoc son ha, Hich tuong si, Binh Ngo dai cao, Truyen Kieu, Van te nghia si Can Giuoc, Tuyen de Doc lap) must also meet a number of other requirements. These include having a position and paramount importance in terms of patriotism, national pride and humanistic values; having a special position and significance in the spiritual life of the nation; having lasting value and impact on many generations.

These are also typical literary works representing the genres of “literature, history, and philosophy indistinguishable”, bearing many unique values ​​of the history of national literature; the ideas of these works still have a profound influence and still inspire young people. These can be considered one of the mandatory requirements for some works that high school students with a baccalaureate degree must know.

Proclamation of Victory over the Wu, Proclamation to the Soldiers, Declaration of Independence... are irreplaceable works.

Students also learn hundreds of other works.

PV:There are also other opinions that, with 6 mandatory works, the program seems to lack modern literature, lacking contemporary breath with worldly and private issues. How do you explain this?

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Do Ngoc Thong:If the program only covers these 6 works, it would be a concern. But students do not only study these 6 works, but also have access to, read, analyze, and evaluate hundreds of other works.

With more than 4,500 hours, textbooks and Literature teachers will have to introduce many more texts, many times more than these 6 works, so there is no shortage of works to meet the reading comprehension requirements according to the genres of modern literature, including literature inspired by personal life and current events, themes and inspirations that only exist in Vietnamese literature after 1986.

The need to meet the requirements of forming reading styles and reading methods according to modern literary genres (short stories, novels, poems, plays, memoirs, etc.) has been fully stated in the program's standards and considered as the basis for organizing teaching, learning, testing and evaluation. No one prevents textbook authors and teachers from teaching modern works inspired by personal life and world events.

But it is also necessary to affirm that patriotic inspiration and humanitarian inspiration deserve to be promoted. Patriotism and fighting the enemy are also manifestations of humanity, humanism, and humanism.

"The punitive army first worries about eliminating violence" as Nguyen Trai affirmed. Moreover, that is the historical reality and literary achievement of our country.

PV:If there are hundreds of works as you said, will the Literature program really reduce the workload as the goal set?

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Do Ngoc Thong:These 6 compulsory works are spread out over about 7 years from the end of junior high school to the end of high school, along with hundreds of representative works of major genres of national literature from many different periods and stages, so it is not too heavy.

It is necessary to overcome the notion that medieval works are difficult and modern works are easy. Difficulty or ease depends on each specific work and on the requirements of the program, especially the teaching method of the teacher.

Difficult texts and works that teachers know how to convey are still more attractive and effective than easy works that teachers do not know how to teach. Therefore, how to make students love literature in general and medieval works in particular depends a lot on Literature teachers, not on whether these works are difficult or have no value./.

PV:Thank you!