Only keep quality non-public high schools?

(Baonghean) - In our province, the non-public high school system has fulfilled its "mission" well during a period of history, but currently, the schools are facing difficulties in development, and a clear direction is needed for this type.

The number of students decreased sharply.

In the late 90s of the last century and the early 21st century, implementing the policy of socializing education, many non-public high schools in Nghe An were established and fulfilled their "mission" well when the scale of public schools could not meet the learning needs of a large number of students.

At that time, the scale of non-public high schools had up to thousands of students and dozens of classes, for example, Nguyen Truong To High School (Vinh City) had up to 2,500 students with 45 classes at one point; Nguyen Trai High School (Vinh City) had 27 classes with 11,000 students; or Dinh Bat Tuy High School (Hung Nguyen), only grade 10, one year recruited 334 students...

Physics practice hour at Nguyen Truong To High School (Vinh city). Photo: Mai Hoa

However, in recent years, the development of non-public high schools has been very difficult due to the sharp decrease in student numbers and number of classes. There are some schools with only 1 class in each grade, such as Nguyen Trai High School with only 3 classes in 3 grades, with a total of 100 students; or Nguyen Hue High School (Vinh City) also has only 3 classes in 3 grades with 69 students.

In some schools such as Dinh Bat Tuy High School (Hung Nguyen), Nguyen Du High School, Nguyen Van To High School, Quang Trung High School (Dien Chau District), the student population is larger, averaging over 300 students/school, but compared to before, it has also decreased a lot. When students cannot be mobilized, there will be no quality teachers to serve in non-public schools (in fact, in some schools, many good teachers have transferred to public schools or transferred to other jobs), leading to low quality of education in non-public high schools.

It can be affirmed that the reduction in the number of students at the high school level in recent years is a common trend in both public and non-public schools, the reason being the reduction in the number of students in the mechanical level, due to the stream of vocational students from grade 9, so a number of students do not go to high school. However, during the process of working with the survey team of the Culture - Society Committee, Provincial People's Council on the planning of the school network and the operation of non-public high schools, we have recorded many opinions that there is discrimination and inequality between public and non-public high schools in the approval of annual enrollment plans and quotas.

Teacher Duong Van Ngoc - Principal of Nguyen Trai High School, said: "Previously, the enrollment policy was implemented according to the ratio: 60% of the source is for public and 40% is for non-public, but currently this ratio is not guaranteed". From another perspective, teacher Tran Hoang Ha - Principal of Nguyen Hue High School, said: "Although the Department of Education and Training approves the enrollment plan and quota every year, some public high schools have the "conditions" to request more quotas, the department also agrees to "follow" the schools, making the already difficult non-public schools even more difficult".

According to Resolution No. 70/2012/NQ-HDND dated December 13, 2012 of the Provincial People's Council, the rate of student mobilization to public schools is 85% and non-public schools is 15%; but in reality, in recent years, this rate has not only not been guaranteed but has been on a downward trend. If in the 2012-2014 school year, the enrollment rate in non-public schools was 14.3%, in the 2016-2017 school year it was only 7.9%. The number of non-public schools with a development target of 21 schools, but currently there are only 18 schools; meanwhile, the development target of public schools is 69 schools, but currently there are 72 schools.

Development in which direction?

Diversifying education types is considered an open direction in the field of education and training to mobilize people, reduce the "burden" on the budget and create healthy competition in education. Therefore, maintaining and developing non-public high schools is necessary, especially now that the number of primary school students is increasing steadily.

However, to solve the immediate difficulties, according to the opinion of the Principals of non-public high schools, it is necessary to have a solution to reduce the number of students in public schools and increase the number in non-public schools. Agreeing with the above opinion, Comrade Ho Phuc Hop - Member of the Standing Committee, Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, Head of the Department of Culture - Society, Provincial People's Council also requested the Department of Education and Training to strictly implement Resolution No. 70 of the Provincial People's Council in approving the annual enrollment plan; ensuring the enrollment rate, 85% of the source for public schools and 15% of the source for non-public schools.

Students of Dinh Bat Tuy High School (Hung Nguyen) participate in exchange and career counseling activities. Photo: Mai Hoa

In addition to paying attention to solving immediate problems, it is necessary to consider the long-term development direction for non-public high schools in accordance with the law. According to the Director of the Department of Education and Training - Nguyen Thi Kim Chi, it is necessary to encourage the formation and development of high-quality non-public schools to attract students with economic conditions and needs to study, in order to reduce investment budget sources. Nationwide, some localities have done this such as Hanoi with Doan Thi Diem and Luong The Vinh High Schools; Ho Chi Minh City with Nguyen Khuyen High School...

Meanwhile, the development of the non-public high school system in the province is going against the law and developing very poorly, students are mainly children of poor families. Teacher Le Van Phot - Chairman of the Provincial Association of Former Teachers, affirmed: "The purpose of establishing non-public schools is to attract resources in society, not to form a system of high schools with low quality education".

Giving some predictions about the decreasing demand for high school education due to the implementation of the streaming policy (by 2020, 30% of junior high school graduates will switch to vocational training and only 70% will go to high school), Mr. Phot said that it is necessary to focus on strengthening some quality schools, while schools that do not have the capacity or have too few students need to switch to vocational training.

Also referring to the direction of non-public schools, Vice Principal of Vinh University Thai Van Thanh said: “In the face of the current requirements for educational innovation, with the existing facilities, plus the fact that students of non-public schools are mainly children of families with difficult economic conditions, it will not be possible to meet them. To develop, the schools themselves must improve the quality of education, at the same time demonstrate their excellence in cultural education environment, life skills education, human education for students, including teaching English to meet the needs of labor export and study abroad of students. To realize this issue, non-public high schools must increase investment attraction, international exchange, and on the part of the authorities at all levels, related sectors also need to have solutions to overcome difficulties, create appropriate mechanisms and policies for schools to develop”.

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