Nghe An: Ensuring timely, adequate and quality supply of new textbooks for students

Therefore, the selection of appropriate textbooks and the supply of textbooks have been focused on by the education sector on the basis of harmony and closeness to the students.

Objectivity in textbook selection

This is the second year that Nghe An has selected textbooks to implement the new General Education Program. However, while in previous years the selection of textbooks was assigned to schools, this year it was assigned to the Provincial Textbook Appraisal Council to research and vote on the selection. The council members areprofessionals, with capacity, of which 2/3 are professional group leaders and teachers directly teaching the class. Each subject will have its own evaluation board and have representatives from each region.

Vinh City teachers trained to implement the new textbook program. Photo: MH

Previously, to ensure objectivity, Nghe An transferred the sample textbooks of subjects approved by the Ministry of Education and Training for schools to choose based on local socio-economic characteristics, teaching conditions of educational institutions and students' capacity and qualifications.

From the feedback of schools,Department of Education and Trainingsynthesize and transfer to the Provincial Textbook Selection Council. Then, the members of the Subject Textbook Selection Council focus on discussing and voting by secret ballot to select 1 or several textbooks for each subject and synthesize and report the research results in writing to the Council Chairman.

After nearly 2 months of preparation, on April 16, 2021, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision 1024/QD-UBND dated April 16, 2021 on approving the list of textbooks for grades 2 and 6 used in general education institutions in Nghe An province from the 2021-2022 school year.

Accordingly, for the second grade textbooks for the subjects of Mathematics, Ethics, Nature and Society, Music, Fine Arts, Physical Education, and Experiential Activities, all are books from the Connecting Knowledge with Life series published by the Vietnam Education Publishing House. For the Vietnamese subject, in addition to the book series published by the Vietnam Education Publishing House, there is also 1 book from the Canh Dieu series published by the Ho Chi Minh City University of Education Publishing House; for the Experiential Activities subject, there is 1 more book from the Creative Horizon series published by the Vietnam Education Publishing House.

For grade 6 textbooks, 23 books were selected, of which 13 books were published by Vietnam Education Publishing House, 5 books were published by Ho Chi Minh City University of Education Publishing House and 5 books were published by University of Education Publishing House.

Teachers at Nguyen Trai Primary School (Vinh City) study and research new textbooks for second graders. Photo: MH

According to himThai Van Thanh– Director of the Department of Education and Training: The selection of textbooks must follow the principles: Research and select textbooks from the list of textbooks approved by the Minister of Education and Training for stable use in general education institutions. The selection of textbooks must meet the criteria for selecting textbooks in general education institutions issued by the Provincial People's Committee on the socio-economic characteristics of the locality, conditions for organizing teaching and learning at the educational institution, suitable to the requirements and level of students. During the implementation process, the Textbook Selection Council works according to the principles of concentration, democracy, objectivity, publicity, transparency, fully demonstrating the sense of responsibility of each individual.

The implementation process also shows that in the second year of implementing the change,textbookThe new textbooks in Nghe An went quite smoothly. Before selecting new books, the Nghe An Education Department also had a fairly complete assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of the first grade textbooks after one year of implementation.

Class time of first grade students in Tuong Duong district. Photo: MH

Accordingly, although the 2018 General Education Program has many advantages compared to previous programs. In addition to textbooks, the accompanying electronic learning materials are diverse, rich, easy to exploit and use, creating favorable conditions for teachers to build attractive, engaging lessons for students; students can understand and be more interested in lessons, less bored; students can participate in many activities and experiences, thereby forming many important skills. At the end of the school year, students achieve many outstanding skills such as: reading, communication, self-control, self-study, critical thinking; students are much more active and confident.

Provide enough textbooks for students soon

To facilitate the replacement of textbooks, immediately after the Provincial People's Committee decides to approve the investment capital,Regarding textbooks for grades 2 and 6, the Nghe An Department of Education and Training has also reported to the Ministry of Education and Training on the list of selected textbooks. At the same time, it has provided written information to publishers with selected textbooks on the list and quantity of textbooks each publisher needs to provide to local educational institutions in order to publish and supply to general educational institutions before the opening day of the new school year.

Le Mao Secondary School (Vinh City) gives opinions on 6th grade textbooks. Photo: MH

This is also to comply with the Guidance Document No. 367/BGDĐT – GDTH of the Ministry of Education and Training in order to promptly “provide sufficient quantity, ensure quality, and on schedule to general education institutions and related units, meeting the needs of teachers, parents and students in the area before August 15, 2021”. Currently, localities, based on the approved school year plan, have also accurately reviewed the number of grade 2 and grade 6 students for the next school year and this will be the basis for Nghe An to synthesize and coordinate with publishers and suppliers to prepare textbooks for the next school year.

Regarding this issue, today, June 4, the Department of Education and Training continued to issue a document requesting statistics on the demand for textbooks for grades 1 and 2 in the 2021-2022 school year.

Thanks to being equipped with modern teaching equipment, the application of electronic learning materials will help the implementation of new textbooks to be convenient and effective. Photo: MH.

For grade 1 textbooks, schools need to continue to review and count existing books, compare them with demand, register for additional and replacement books, and ensure that no student lacks textbooks. Particularly in Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, Que Phong, Quy Chau, and Quy Hop districts, schools must send a list of students in difficult circumstances to request the Vietnam Education Publishing House to donate textbooks (according to the content of Official Dispatch No. 1047/GDTH dated May 27, 2021 of the Department of Education and Training).

Guidance document of the Department of Education and Training. Photo: MH

After collecting statistics, the Department of Education and Training of districts, cities and towns synthesizes the needs from affiliated educational institutions and sends to the Department the list and quantity of textbooks (grades 1, 2 and 6) to guide general education institutions in the area to coordinate with textbook suppliers to ensure adequate, timely and quality supply of textbooks.

Regarding the supply of textbooks for the new school year, Director of the Department of Education and Training Thai Van Thanh affirmed: The statistics on the quantity and demand for textbooks at the grassroots level are to report to publishers to prepare enough textbooks for all students in the coming school year, ensuring that no student lacks textbooks.

Parents and schools can choose suitable suppliers, ensuring both objectivity and convenience, but most importantly, ensuring quality produced by reputable publishers, avoiding fake and pirated books.

In the 2020-2021 school year, the Department of Education and Training has advised the Provincial People's Committee to allocate funding.942 million VND to buy 5,050 sets of textbooks to equip libraries of primary schools in disadvantaged areas for students to register to borrow. In the 2020-2021 school year, the publishers will provide enough textbooks to ensure that 100% of students have textbooks to study.

It is expected that in the 2021-2022 school year, the province will provide funds to purchase 2,000 new textbooks to support 6 mountainous districts and provide them to poor and disadvantaged students.