Ministry of Education and Training requests: Reduce workload, rectify overcharging

Rectifying overcharging and reducing workload are two issues that the Ministry of Education and Training is particularly concerned about in the preparation for the new school year. However, public opinion believes that if documents are only issued without action, it is difficult to completely resolve these issues.

Do not use parents' money to reward teachers

In a recently issued document, for the first time, the Ministry of Education and Training has made quite specific requirements regarding the operating fee of the Parents' Association. Accordingly, the amount of this fee is decided by the parents at the parent meeting at the beginning of the year. In particular, the Ministry of Education and Training requires that this fee not be used to "support teaching and educational activities, reward school staff". The spending must be planned and approved at the parent meeting at the beginning of the school year and the results of use must be made public at the end of the semester and year-end meetings.

The Ministry of Education and Training requires schools to organize collection, management and notification of estimated usage, publicly settle accounts, and not arbitrarily set up funds to force students to contribute under the name of voluntary contributions.

In this document, the Ministry of Education and Training also makes requirements for schools when collecting contributions agreed upon between parents and the school (meal fees, boarding care fees, second-session tuition fees, etc.), other fees... For any collection, schools must proactively disseminate information to parents in a transparent manner.

Sharing with Tien Phong, many parents doubt the ability to enforce the above document. A parent of Nam Trung Yen Primary School (Cau Giay District, Hanoi) said: “Parents are dissatisfied, even to the point of filing a lawsuit, but it is useless. On one hand, the school blames the parents, on the other hand, they find ways to legalize the collection and disbursement process. The superiors handle the matter in a way that stalls for time, delaying forever without concluding, and when they do, it is in the direction that the parents said wrongly.”

Behind the innocent faces on the first day of school are many worries of parents. Photo: Hong Vinh.

The phenomenon of management levels turning a blind eye to violations in school revenue and expenditure not only angers parents but also many teachers. A group of teachers at a high school in Hanoi expressed their indignation: “The former principal of my school committed many violations in revenue and expenditure, especially those related to the Parents' Association. When the press published this, the teachers in the school found out and demanded an explanation from the principal. When the principal could not explain, we filed a lawsuit with the Department and the City.” Only after a long time was the principal transferred to another school to become a vice principal. But what we are most indignant about is that the vice principals were also disciplined and transferred to other places because of “internal disunity.”

Reduced load from grade 1 to grade 12

This is considered a positive move by the Ministry of Education and Training in response to public complaints about the academic pressure weighing heavily on students in recent years.

According to the draft guidelines for adjusting teaching content, a large amount of knowledge from grades 1 to 12 will be left untaught (if the knowledge overlaps with other grades or subjects), or converted into additional reading (if the knowledge is too in-depth, not suitable for the cognitive level and psychology of the students), etc.

Reducing the load completely is considered very difficult. Photo: Hong Vinh

However, many parents believe that this reduced content may be useful for students living in areas with difficult socio-economic conditions, but it is different for students living in favorable areas. “The current curriculum and textbooks are generally not difficult for my child and his friends. But I still have to send him to extra classes at the homeroom teacher’s house and with some good teachers outside. Otherwise, how can my child ensure 5 years of being an excellent student so that he can apply to a good school outside the district, and how can my child take the entrance exam to the selective class of those schools?”, said a parent of Khuong Mai Primary School.

Many teachers also shared this concern with parents. Mr. Duong Duc Thang, Head of the Physics Department at Chu Van An High School, Hanoi, commented: “If teaching aims to help students get good results in the university entrance exam, the textbook content is not enough for teachers to teach students, including advanced books. The difference in the level of requirements between the high school graduation exam and the current university entrance exam is too large. So the Ministry needs to determine whether, after reducing the content of the textbooks, it will continue to propose a plan to reduce the requirements in the university entrance exam or not. If not, the reduction will bring serious disadvantages to students taking the university entrance exam for group A but have to study books with reduced Physics content.”

The issue of reducing workload is very necessary, but which subject to reduce, natural or social sciences, and how to reduce it, is something that needs to be thoroughly researched and investigated.

(According to Tien Phong)