Parents and students are confused when choosing textbooks according to the new general education program.

Confused about choosing textbooks

Preparing for her child to enter 6th grade, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien (grade 7, Le Loi ward) spent a morning going to the largest bookstore in Vinh city to buy books for her child. Standing in front of the 6th grade book counter for nearly 30 minutes, Ms. Hien still did not know which book to buy for her child and whether buying it was in line with the new textbook replacement program or not.

Sharing about this, Ms. Hien said: “I know that this year the children are studying a new curriculum and I still thought that I just need to go to the bookstore to buy them for my children like in previous school years. Coming here, I found out that the same set of books can be supplied by many publishers and each province has a different choice, so now I am still confused about what books to buy. The school should have notified parents early so that we can prepare because the new school year is almost here.”

Many students go to bookstores to buy textbooks. Photo: My Ha

Not only parents, but up to this point, guiding students to register for elective subjects and buy books is still difficult for many schools, especially for 10th grade students.

At Ha Huy Tap High School (Vinh City), before students registered for admission, the school publicly announced all 24 grade 10 textbooks from two publishers, Vietnam Education Publishing House and Ho Chi Minh City University of Education Publishing House. Like previous years, students could buy books based on the list, but this year it also depends on the subject groups they registered for. Even the school, although it can support students in buying textbooks, cannot hastily compile the list because students can change their registration wishes.

Teacher Cao Thanh Bao - Principal of Ha Huy Tap High School said: "This is the first year that grade 10 has changed textbooks, so registering to buy books is quite passive.

For example, at this time, we can pre-order 5 books from the publisher for 5 compulsory subjects: Literature, Math, Foreign Language, History, National Defense and Security Education. For the remaining subjects, we have to wait for students to register and wait for them to confirm it before we can compile them.

To prepare for the textbook replacement program and promptly provide enough textbooks for students, at the end of July, after students had completed their enrollment, Nam Dan 1 High School organized a consultation session to choose elective combinations for all grade 10 students.

At Dien Chau 3 High School, although the new school year has not yet begun, the school has organized a conference for parents of grade 10 students to provide parents with changes in the new textbook program, and at the same time advise parents and students on the subject program, class structure, school year according to the new 2018 general education program and future career trends.

Parents with children entering 10th grade are confused when choosing textbooks. Photo: My Ha

Teacher Phan Trong Dong - Principal of Dien Chau 3 High School said: "The conference was organized because through our understanding, we saw that many parents and students were confused when registering for subjects and classes for their children. After introducing and consulting parents and students, the school will also base on the registration list to summarize the need for textbooks, trying to have books soon for students to prepare for the new school year."

Avoid being passive when supplying books

This school year, the textbook change will continue to be implemented for all classes (including grades 3, 7 and 10). While for grades 3 and 7, the textbook change will not have too many changes because it has been inherited from previous school years, for grade 10 there are many new things. To support students when entering the new school year, all schools support students to register to buy textbooks at the school (if students have a need). In addition, students can buy them themselves at school equipment bookstores or at agents in 21 districts, cities and towns.

Ha Huy Tap High School advises parents and students on choosing subjects when registering for grade 10. Photo: My Ha

Previously, in preparation for the new school year, the People's Committee of Nghe An province also completed the selection of textbooks and sent a list of approved textbooks to schools for convenience in choosing books. The biggest difficulty now is that students enroll late (many schools may have to wait until the first week of August to complete), so they may be passive in compiling the list and registering the textbooks they need to buy.

According to the synthesis of Nghe An School Equipment and Books Joint Stock Company, up to now, with compulsory books, the rate of schools registering has only reached 60 - 80%. The largest number of registered books is Literature with 90%. Meanwhile, the rate of schools registering for elective subjects has only reached an average of about 60%. Particularly for subjects such as Music, Fine Arts and Technology, the registration rate has only reached about 20%.

Regarding book registration, there are also many differences between schools. For example, in Literature, out of 84 schools, 83 schools registered for the Knowledge Connection book series and only 1 school registered for the Kite book series. Meanwhile, in Mathematics, 17 schools chose the Kite book series and 67 schools chose the Knowledge Connection book series. In Biology, 33/85 schools chose the Kite book series, 49/85 schools chose the Knowledge Connection book series and 3 schools did not choose any book series...

With many schools having many different options, many schools have not registered, the representative of the School Equipment and Books Joint Stock Company said that they encountered many difficulties in preparing textbooks for 10th grade students this school year.

Mr. Tran Xuan Toan - Director of the School Equipment and Books Joint Stock Company also said: "According to the plan, we will try to contact schools this week to complete the registration of textbook needs for students in the whole province. Immediately after that, we will contact publishers to promptly supply them to students in mid-August. Before that, anticipating the needs of students in this school year, we have pre-ordered many subjects from publishers so that we will avoid being passive in supplying textbooks for the new school year...".

In addition to grade 10 textbooks, currently, according to the synthesis of the School Equipment and Books Joint Stock Company, except for the three mountainous districts of Ky Son, Quy Hop, and Quy Chau, all schools that have registered textbooks for students have been fully supplied by the unit. The remaining amount is expected to be completed in the first week of August after teachers in mountainous districts return to school.

This school year, the textbook change will apply to grades 3, 7 and 10. Photo: My Ha

Changes in textbooks according to the new program will certainly also affect the preparation for the new school year of many parents and students, especially when the current price of textbooks is 2 or 3 times higher than the old program. Currently, through the synthesis of the Joint Stock Company of Books and School Equipment, on average each year the company and agents across the province will supply 60-70% of new books to parents and students. For the rest, schools and organizations and society will use many methods such as implementing the Library for Children program, mobilizing old textbooks to lend to students or giving books to teachers in disadvantaged areas.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung - Head of Secondary Education Department - Department of Education and Training said: The Department is compiling a list of disadvantaged students in localities and on that basis will coordinate with organizations, individuals and book suppliers to support textbooks for some students from poor and disadvantaged households. In addition, the school library model will continue to be replicated to create a textbook warehouse for disadvantaged students to borrow and use during the school years.