Should grading first graders be abolished?

(Baonghean.vn) -According to the announcement of the Ministry of Education and Training, from the 2013-2014 school year, for first graders, teachers are encouraged to only comment, not grade students; if grading, teachers should not inform the students' families of the grades. Grading or not grading first graders is creating mixed public opinion.

The reason the Ministry of Education and Training made this decision is because many teachers unfairly evaluated students who could read and write with students who could not, putting pressure on parents to send their children to school first. This affected the Ministry's regulation prohibiting extra teaching and learning.

Teacher Le Thi Dao, homeroom teacher of class 1B - Cua Nam 1 Primary School, said: "When I received the notice that grade 1 students would not be given points, I suddenly felt sad. From now on, I will not receive the joy of the students every time they receive a score of 10."

Grading first graders has long been considered a traditional method of assessment with many advantages. Through grading, teachers accurately assess students' abilities through each lesson, each subject in each semester, each year. If a student gets a low score, of course, based on the score the teacher gives, they will try to achieve a higher score, thereby having to study harder and of course their academic performance through scores will also be higher. Students who get high scores are excited and have more motivation to strive and maintain their achievements. Thus, grading students when they first enter the first year of primary school has many positive factors.

In fact, many primary school students achieve good academic results in class and are given 9 or 10 points by their teachers in their notebooks. After school, they are very happy and proud of their academic achievements. Some of them quickly show their scores to their parents or family members right at the school gate. And parents and family members themselves often advise, encourage and reward their children every time they achieve high scores in their studies.

Teacher Le Thi Dao said: “I have been teaching first grade for 20 years now, grading students right from the first grade has a very positive effect. It gives them more motivation to strive. Grading also makes it easier for me to classify students, thereby having a direction to nurture the “younger” students.”

According to Ms. Dao, grading is very meaningful in motivating students to strive. “Many students, when I give them an 8, immediately brag to their friends: today I got 2 points more than yesterday, I got a reward from my mother! When someone gets a 10, the whole class is bustling and wants to see their essay, to see how beautifully they write. I think that is also a method to help students compete healthily!” - Ms. Dao said.

Recess time of students at Cua Primary SchoolMale1.

Teacher Dinh Thi Hien - Principal of Cua Nam I School, said: "The first meeting of the school year between the Department of Education and the principals of the new schools will officially discuss this draft. In my opinion, comments are good, but evaluating by quantifying scores is also an interesting thing to do and creates motivation for students to strive!"

According to the reporter's investigation, most parents and students want to receive scores after each lesson. Picking up her child after work, Ms. Tung Lam - Quang Trung ward said: "I also did not know about not giving grades to first graders. When I came home and asked, my child said: "I don't give grades", I suddenly felt sorry for my child. Before going to school, I was always eager to go to school to receive 10 points, now I have to wait forever but the teacher doesn't give grades!"

The new school year has officially started for a week now, and there has been no announcement of instructions on comments, but many schools have stopped giving grades. Many teachers wonder how they will comment on students' work after each lesson? Are general and binary comments accurate enough? If a student gets 8 points or more, they can be given the comment "good". But according to primary school teachers in grade 1, 8 points is very different from 10 points and cannot have the same comment: "good". Once again, not giving grades but only giving comments makes it difficult for teachers.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan, a first grade teacher, “I am really confused about giving comments, because if I give comments after each homework assignment in class, it will be very time-consuming and difficult to distinguish which students are good, which are excellent, or even good and average. And is it reasonable to only give comments once in a while, while each homework assignment of each subject, in each different class session, has a difference, if we give a score. Honestly, if we do not give students a score, we ourselves will lose joy and interest.”

Regarding this issue, the Deputy Head of the Vinh City Education Department - Ms. Ngo Thi Nguyet said: “According to the regulations of the Ministry of Education, we have promptly sent a draft document to primary schools across the city. The Department is assigning us to collect opinions from primary school teachers, whether to give points or not, and what kind of comments to make?! In terms of profound meaning, this is a positive change, because if we only give comments, students will not be discriminated against, leading to a loss of confidence. But in my personal opinion, we should both give points and make comments. If a student has a good assignment, we will give points, and if a student has not done well, we will make an appointment with them next time, the next assignment, and comment on their assignment, what should be improved. This is in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry, encourages children, and also creates easier evaluation conditions for teachers!”

Scoring is a traditional way of assessment, which has the effect of encouraging the spirit of learning and promoting children's creativity, not just criticizing their weaknesses... So should scoring be abolished?

Thanh Nga