Minister explains about integrating History subject

On the afternoon of November 16, Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan answered a "hot" issue - the debate about whether History is still an independent, compulsory subject or an elective subject in schools, integrated into the subject of Citizenship with the Fatherland...

Delegate Le Van Lai (National Assembly Delegate of Quang Ninh Province) asked about the draft of the General Education Program, with the question being whether History will remain an independent subject or be integrated into the subject of Citizenship and the Fatherland, and asked Minister Pham Vu Luan to give his opinion on this issue.

Minister Pham Vu Luan answers questions on the afternoon of November 16 (Photo: Hoang Long)

Minister Pham Vu Luan said that the public is currently very interested in History because it is not included in the high school curriculum. In particular, there is a basic consensus in primary and secondary schools.

Mr. Luan affirmed: "History is not taken lightly. We affirm that we have given more importance to History than the current program. According to the report drafting committee, we have checked that currently, high school students are teaching History with 1.5 periods/week. In the draft design that is being consulted, students who do not study Social Sciences majors have 2.5 periods/week of History, and students who study majors have 4 periods/week of History. All of these periods are compulsory. Thus, the content and volume of historical knowledge has increased."

Regarding the reason for including History in the subject of Citizenship with the Fatherland, according to Mr. Luan: "Firstly, it is in the spirit of the integration policy. Second, the Law on National Defense and Security Education passed by the National Assembly has regulations on teaching the history of national defense and the history of national defense. We plan to include History in there to avoid duplication.

In addition to the historical content taught in the Citizenship and Fatherland section, other subjects are also expected to have history taught. For example, teaching literature in conjunction with history. We teach "Hich tuong si", "Binh Ngo dai cao", "Tuyen do phi" (Declaration of Independence), if it is not linked with history, the children cannot understand it and cannot be taught.

Not only in Literature but also in Geography will be associated with history. Not only the names of lands and islands but also the place names are associated with the feats and the process of building and protecting the Fatherland of our ancestors.

Music and art education will support and integrate history teaching. For example, teaching "Cau ho ben Hien Luong" and "Xa khoi" is also integrated with history so that children can feel"...

According to Mr. Luan, the draft that is being consulted does not intend to reduce knowledge of History and is still compulsory. "The issue that needs to be discussed is whether it should be kept separate, or History should be integrated. That is the issue that really needs to be discussed...".

At this point, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung asked Mr. Luan to answer briefly, focusing on the issue being asked. Mr. Hung repeated the question of Deputy Le Van Lai: "According to the Minister's point of view, is History still an independent subject in textbooks?"

Delegate Le Van Lai (Photo by Van Chung)

Answering this question, Mr. Luan said that currently the Drafting Committee of the Program and the Ministry of Education and Training are listening to the opinions of the entire population. On that basis, there will be discussions and acceptance. It is expected that the Ministry will report to the delegates, the Central Propaganda Department, the Central Theoretical Council, the National Council for Education, the National Assembly's Committee for Youth and Children's Culture, and then report to the National Assembly...

Mr. Luan affirmed: “This is an important matter. The viewpoint is that if integration is light and cannot be increased, then there will be no integration. If integration is still guaranteed, then there will be integration. The drafting committee and the Ministry of Education and Training will work with experts and scientists to reach a final conclusion."

After Mr. Luan's answer, Deputy Le Van Lai (National Assembly Representative of Quang Ninh) discussed further.

Mr. Lai said, “According to the Minister, the new curriculum emphasizes History more despite applying integration and increasing teaching time. However, time is only one aspect. More important factors such as who can conduct integrated teaching and how the Ministry prepares teachers for integrated teaching have not been fully prepared. Therefore, people and parents lack confidence in the Ministry's integration plan.”

Mr. Lai wondered, “When History is taught independently, systematically, with specialized teachers according to the traditional curriculum but still has many limitations, taking the beard of this person and putting it in another person’s mouth… then will switching to the new style ensure quality improvement?”. In his personal opinion, Mr. Lai said, “It is very difficult.”

According to Vietnamnet