Professor Thai Van Thanh expressed his opinion on textbook prices at the National Assembly forum.

Overview of the discussion session on the morning of June 2 at Dien Hong Hall, National Assembly House. Photo: Quang Khanh

On the morning of June 2, continuing the Working Program of the 3rd Session of the 15th National Assembly, under the direction of Permanent Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man, the National Assembly continued to discuss in the hall the results of the implementation of the Socio-Economic Development Plan and State Budget in 2021; Summarizing the implementation of Resolution No. 42/2017/QH14 on piloting the handling of bad debts of credit institutions.

Speaking at the discussion session, exchanging opinions of some delegates on the issue of textbooks, Professor, Doctor Thai Van Thanh - Nghe An delegation, assessed: The Ministry of Education and Training has directed the education sector and educational institutions to synchronously, methodically and scientifically implement the 2018 General Education Program in accordance with the direction of the Party, National Assembly and Government.

Delegates attend the discussion session on the morning of June 2 at Dien Hong Hall, National Assembly House. Photo: Quang Khanh

According to the head of Nghe An Education Department, the Program aims to comprehensively develop students' personalities and form and develop skills such as information technology and foreign languages; especially strengthen education on revolutionary ideals, ethics, lifestyle, life values ​​and arouse the desire to contribute to building a prosperous and happy society.

“It can be said that the initial requirements for educational innovation and international integration of the fourth industrial revolution have been met,” Professor Thai Van Thanh commented on the 2018 General Education Program.

The delegate of Nghe An Delegation expressed his agreement with the viewpoint of the Minister of Education and Training to put textbooks on the price management list, in the direction of ensuring students' rights and current economic conditions of the people.

The delegates also agreed with the Ministry of Education and Training's direction to educational institutions to strengthen communication among the people so that parents and students understand that there are two types of textbooks.

The first is the compulsory textbooks that must be purchased for study. The second is the supporting and reference books, which are not compulsory to buy but depend on the conditions and needs of the students and parents.

Professor, Dr. Thai Van Thanh - delegate of Nghe An Delegation speaking. Photo: Quang Khanh

At the National Assembly forum, from local practice, specifically the Education sector in Nghe An, Professor Thai Van Thanh said: The province has 21 districts, cities, and towns, of which 11 are mountainous districts, especially 6 mountainous districts with very difficult conditions.

Based on the above reality, the provincial Department of Education has advised the provincial People's Committee to build a textbook library model with the formula of the State and the people working together. Accordingly, the province allocates a part of the budget to equip textbooks for schools in the above area; at the same time, it calls on and mobilizes businesses and publishers to donate textbooks to schools and calls on students of previous courses to donate textbooks after finishing their studies.

“This work is meaningful in helping students in difficult circumstances, children in ethnic minority and mountainous areas have books to study; books can be used many times, avoiding waste”, said the Director of Nghe An Department of Education and Training, thereby recommending that the Ministry of Education and Training replicate this model in localities across the country to support students in difficult circumstances, students in ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

Previously, in the discussion session on the afternoon of June 1, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son also explained the opinions of delegates on contents related to the industry.

Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son explained to delegates about issues related to the industry on the afternoon of June 1. Photo: Quang Khanh

Regarding textbook prices, the Minister of Education and Training said that Resolution 88 of the National Assembly on innovation of general education textbook programs stipulates "socialization of textbook compilation".

Accordingly, the compilation of textbooks is carried out in the direction of socialization, and enterprises must declare prices to the Ministry of Finance before publishing and distributing.

With the desire that students always buy textbooks at the lowest price, from a management perspective, the Ministry has strengthened technical guidance, requiring publishers to publish books so that they can be used many times. The new textbooks published under the 2018 General Education Program have fully implemented this.

In addition, the structure and content of textbooks have been regulated to be consistent with textbook standards for publications. During the book review process, review boards have asked author groups to adjust sections that are too long or overuse images.

Currently, the Ministry of Education and Training is directing and issuing circulars stipulating specific criteria and standards for textbooks to regulate this in a more specific and effective manner.

The Ministry has also repeatedly issued documents requiring the Education Publishing House to save as much as possible, cut down on intermediary costs to reduce management, sales, and other costs to ensure the lowest textbook prices.

The Ministry also directed publishers to synchronously and effectively implement solutions to provide textbooks to students in disadvantaged areas and areas, and directed publishers to provide free PDF copies of the books so that students can access them immediately upon release.

One of the important and fundamental solutions is that the Ministry has sent an official dispatch to the Ministry of Finance to report to the Government and the National Assembly to add textbooks to the list of books priced by the State and have a subsidy policy./.