Don't blame life.
(Baonghean) - The innovative "two-in-one" exam has ended. Amidst the new changes, an old, very old problem persists: History remains "lonely" because very few students choose to take the History exam.
Statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) show that in this year's national high school graduation exam, History was the least chosen subject, with approximately 153,600 candidates registering, accounting for 15.3% of the total number of candidates nationwide. Therefore, during the History exam on the morning of July 4th, many examination centers had only a handful of candidates, and in some places, only one student showed up. Many examination centers closed due to a lack of candidates, such as the cluster in Da Nang City (24 centers closed), Quang Ninh (10 centers closed), Tra Vinh (8 centers closed), and Hue (19 centers closed)... The issue of students "discriminating" against History is something that has been happening for many years. It's not a new or unusual phenomenon. The strange thing is that society has long been sounding the alarm about the situation where "our people don't know our history, don't like our history," yet the education sector is still struggling, without any viable solutions. They only know how to blame each other. Students blame the dry history curriculum and rigid history teachers. Teachers blame the lack of attention and investment in this supplementary subject. The education sector, in turn, blames the current state of life – that nobody wants to study history because it's not a profession for earning a living later in life.
It's true that studying history isn't about acquiring knowledge to use later for making money. Instead, it's about understanding what our ancestors did, understanding the country, its people, and the values that people enjoy today. Studying history also fosters patriotism and national pride. These things bring immense and inherent value to each individual, which, of course, cannot be measured in money. That's why President Ho Chi Minh, while still alive, reminded us, "Our people must know our history / To understand the origins of our Vietnamese nation." For each individual, history is "yesterday." But to have a peaceful life today and to avoid mistakes tomorrow, it is essential to understand, grasp, and remember what happened in the past, then reflect on and compare it with actions and results today. From this, we can draw lessons learned to continue living peacefully and achieve positive results tomorrow. Anyone who doesn't know how to do this will certainly not be able to survive and thrive. For an entire nation, fully grasping and deeply understanding its history is just as important, but on a much higher and more significant scale. This brief overview illustrates the crucial role history plays in the survival of a nation.
Our students' dislike of studying and researching history stems not only from the boring curriculum and teaching methods, which make it unprofitable, but also from their failure to grasp the importance, significance, and immense value of the subject. This is clearly the fault of the education system for failing to help students fully and deeply understand the importance of studying history. The education system itself hasn't fully recognized the importance of this subject, which is why it has classified history as a secondary, elective subject—something students can choose to study if they like, and skip if they don't. Therefore, when students show indifference to history, it's considered normal, not seen as a threat to their cultural identity and roots in the future, and thus they don't rush to find solutions.
Therefore, not only students but also the education sector itself should fully and deeply re-evaluate the role and position of History in the existence and development of the country. This will allow for timely and appropriate revisions to restore History to its true and noble value. We must recognize this, instead of blaming life itself.
Duy Huong
