Director of Nghe An Department of Education: During the epidemic, the top priority is students' health

PV: Professor, Doctor Thai Van Thanh, why has Nghe An continuously changed its school schedule in recent days?

Professor, Dr. Thai Van Thanh:In the recent past, the Covid-19 pandemic has been very complicated in the world and in the period of international integration, there are subjects that we cannot control when thousands of people from abroad return to Vietnam every day. Therefore, the Department of Education and Training always considers carefully and asks for instructions from the Provincial People's Committee to have a suitable school schedule. Our point of view is that the safety of students and the health of students are paramount.

At this time, in addition to high school students, students from kindergarten to junior high school are still on leave from school because at this age, they need their parents to pick them up and drop them off and are not yet proactive in self-defense and self-protection skills.

PV: On March 13, the Ministry of Education and Training also adjusted the school year plan from June 30 to July 15, 2020. So, if this plan is applied to Nghe An, how will teaching and learning in our province be implemented in the coming time?

Professor, Dr. Thai Van Thanh:We believe that the Ministry's guidance on online teaching and organizing review and testing to recognize learning outcomes when students return to school is very timely. In addition, we have also given local authorities the initiative and we will continue to direct schools and professional groups to review the curriculum so that we can teach students directly the key and core parts. For other knowledge that students can learn on their own, we will organize and design online lessons, guide them to review and take tests to replace regular tests.

Teachers at Huynh Thuc Khang High School teach online. Photo: Thanh Cuong

The Department has also issued a document directing educational institutions and schools to review online teaching on the Internet or other information channels to implement review and practice instructions and organize and restructure lessons that students can learn on their own.

In parallel, the Department has also deployed an online teaching program on television for students in grades 9 and 12 so that in the coming time, Nghe An students can still participate well in the entrance exams to grade 10 and the National High School Exam.

Online teaching will focus on reviewing 3 subjects: Math - Literature - Foreign Language for 9th graders with 15 sessions each. For 12th graders, we will organize teaching of 9 subjects: Math - Literature - English - History - Geography - Civic Education - Chemistry - Biology - Physics with 8 sessions each.

The Department has also selected excellent, core teachers with professional competence and pedagogical skills and directed the general education department to integrate the program concisely with basic and core knowledge for the general student population. At the same time, there will be direct interactions in each teaching session to guide and suggest students with good and excellent academic performance to meet the needs and learning capacity of each student population.

Online teaching will focus on reviewing 3 subjects: Math - Literature - Foreign Language for 9th graders with 15 sessions for each subject. Photo: Thanh Cuong

The Ministry of Education and Training's decision to postpone the school year by more than half a month will also be more convenient for Nghe An students, because currently Nghe An has a week off after the rest of the country. And that also helps us to be more proactive in teaching and learning time and not put pressure on teachers and students, not having to make up lessons or make up lessons when returning to school.

Since March 13, the Department of Education and Training has also been collecting opinions from parents and students on the schedule for returning to school with three different time frames: March 20, March 30 and April 6. When there is an official schedule, the Department of Education and Training will advise the Provincial People's Committee to issue a plan to adjust the school year to ensure that we can properly implement the school year roadmap according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training. In addition, it is suitable for Nghe An's reality and suitable for students' learning and more importantly, does not create pressure for students when returning to school.

PV: Many parents are concerned that long school breaks will affect students' learning. As the head of the education sector, what would you like to share with parents, students and schools?

Professor, Dr. Thai Van Thanh:In my opinion, at this time, parents in the province do not need to worry too much because the Department of Education and Training has also known the rules and psychology of students and has been proactive in this situation. For a long time, although students are off school, teachers are not allowed to take time off, but schools still regularly conduct professional activities, analyze programs, design programs and lessons through various forms to convey to students and assign tasks to students and students have to return homework, evaluate to create a sense of learning for students, avoid the situation where students stay at home to do their own work and do not practice, review and will neglect their studies.

In fact, in recent times, although students have not gone to school, teachers' work has become more difficult because online teaching is a fairly new form and in order to do their job well, teachers have to study and research quite hard.

Teachers in Yen Thanh district come to tutor students in families. Photo: PV

Hereby, on behalf of the industry leaders, we also appreciate the close guidance and leadership of the management staff, school principals and teachers of Nghe An in the recent past. And more than ever, the teaching staff must demonstrate the sense of responsibility, dedication, hard work, devotion and love of a teacher. That is also the precious tradition of Mr. Do of Nghe An.

PV: Recently, in addition to schools, English and life skills centers are also applying the school holiday schedule following that of general schools. However, this also causes difficulties for units and many opinions say that mass application is not reasonable because in addition to students, centers have many other subjects. So, does the Department of Education and Training have any more reasonable plans to gradually remove difficulties for units?

Professor, Dr. Thai Van Thanh:We sympathize with foreign language, information technology, and life skills centers. Indeed, in the past time, these units have had to work very hard to both fight the epidemic and face difficulties when students are out of school.

However, at the present time, we hope that the centers support the education sector as well as the province because the Covid-19 epidemic affects not only an individual, a community, a center but also the entire country and the whole world. The fact that students or the elderly come to school is considered a large gathering and has a high risk of infection, especially when we have not yet controlled the epidemic.

Foreign language, information technology, and life skills centers... must temporarily suspend operations to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic. Photo: Thanh Cuong

It is expected that by early April when students return to school, we will research and classify adults or students to have better solutions and overcome difficulties in the current context.

PV:Thanksgrandfather!