Associate Professor Van Nhu Cuong: 'The standard score for Pedagogy must be higher than the floor level'

Mr. Cuong believes that it is impossible to recruit poor students to train teachers at all costs. The Ministry of Education should set a separate minimum score for the industry.

Monitoring the benchmark scores of universities and colleges of education in 2017, Associate Professor Van Nhu Cuong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Luong The Vinh School (Hanoi) expressed: "If the University of Education takes the admission score equal to the floor score of the Ministry of Education and Training, and the college also accepts candidates with 3 points per subject to train teachers, it is very worrying."

Associate Professor Van Nhu Cuong - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Luong The Vinh School (Hanoi). Photo: Quynh Trang.

Mr. Cuong analyzed that Vietnam is preparing for a fundamental and comprehensive reform of education, teachers are the vanguard and core force. Minister of Education Phung Xuan Nha also emphasized in many conferences that "to improve the quality of education, we must start with the teaching staff".

DA good team of teachers will make the educational reform successful, on the contrary, if this team does not meet the requirements, it will fail. "If the soldiers go to battle but are weak, who can they fight? If the entrance to the Pedagogical College is low, the output cannot be high either," said Mr. Cuong.

This former lecturer at Hanoi Pedagogical University said that in the past, getting into Pedagogical College was not that easy. There were years when the Mathematics department where he worked required 27 points for admission, while other departments required 22 points or more. Pedagogical College is also a prestigious school, only excellent students can get in.

The benchmark scores for the Pedagogy industry are getting lower and lower. This year, some schools have taken 9-10 scores, causing Mr. Cuong to request Luong The Vinh School that "from now on, when recruiting teachers, we must also consider university entrance scores."

Three reasons why the Pedagogy industry has low benchmark scores

Associate Professor Van Nhu Cuong pointed out three main reasons for the decline in the benchmark scores for the Pedagogy major. First, the younger generation does not favor the teaching profession because it is not dynamic and has many rules. Second, teachers' salaries are low, not enough to support their families. Except for a few good teachers who teach extra subjects like Math, Literature, and English, History and Sports teachers are completely dependent on their school income.

Third, the situation of teacher surplus is widespread. The Ministry of Education once announced the abolition of the establishment in the industry, causing further public confusion. Although the Prime Minister recently affirmed that this is not the State's policy, the abolition of the establishment in the education sector in the future is still something that makes many people worry that after studying pedagogy, they will not have a stable job.

"Why is it that while the whole country has more than 26,000 surplus teachers, Pedagogical schools are still recruiting tens of thousands of new positions?" Associate Professor Van Nhu Cuong asked. According to data announced by Deputy Minister of Education and Training Bui Van Ga at a press conference on March 24, the total 2017 quota of pedagogical schools is 52,000.

The reason why universities and colleges of education, despite the reality of having a surplus of teachers, still recruit many students and accept students with 2-3 points, according to Mr. Cuong, is to meet the job needs of the teaching staff and solve the economic problem for the school.

Many experts expressed concern about low admission scores for teacher training schools.

Should reduce Pedagogical schools

"Pedagogical recruitment should not depend on the number of quotas, taking low benchmark scores to have many students. The important thing in pedagogical recruitment is how to have a team of students who will become quality teachers after graduation. From that goal, we set benchmark scores, and teach as many students as we can recruit," Mr. Cuong shared.

This educator believes that although recruiting few students, teacher training colleges still have a lot of jobs, especially when Vietnam applies the new general education program. The teacher training colleges should then do the main job of retraining the existing teaching staff to meet the new program and new standards.

Each of these training courses should not only last during the summer like now, but should be longer, systematic, serious, with tests, quality assessment exams, and certification. Because there are too many surplus teachers, rotating some teachers to attend the training courses will not cause schools to lack teachers.

Associate Professor Van Nhu Cuong also proposed reducing the number of teacher training colleges, it is not necessary for each locality to have one. In the long term, teacher training colleges should be the place to train all teachers.

Recalling the famous saying “A bad doctor can kill a few patients, a bad general can kill an army, but a generation of bad teachers will ruin an entire nation,” Mr. Cuong said that it is absolutely impossible to let poor students enter teacher training. The Ministry of Education should set a separate floor score for Pedagogical schools and this level must be higher than the general floor score.

By solving the reasons why the Pedagogy industry has few students enrolling, and increasing the benefits for students and teachers, Associate Professor Van Nhu Cuong believes that the industry will attract good students.

According to VNE