The "bread" project?

(Baonghean) - Just recently, I was excitedly discussing the Ministry of Education's textbook reform project with my friends. Wow, it was so impressive, a 34 trillion VND project, no joke! We were drawing up plans and brainstorming countless brilliant ideas: "Let me tell you, if I were the Minister, I would do this, that, and the other thing..." Today, my friend scoffed and threw out a comment: "My dear Minister, go wrap yourself in a warm blanket and sleep well... - Why? - The 34 trillion VND project has been withdrawn, ha ha...". What does that mean?

I was browsing the news online and just found out that the Ministry was heavily criticized during the questioning session, so they had to back down and ask for "more time to prepare a more thorough proposal." That's ridiculous, though; who ever reports on the impact of a project that's only 2.5 pages long, practically a summary? I often criticize leaders for being too verbose, but this brevity seems excessively "progressive," even superficial! Furthermore, the 34 trillion VND figure was an oversight; it hasn't been officially approved by the Ministry yet, and they need to review and study it further before making an official announcement. It suddenly reminded me of a friend's story, and it made me laugh.

This guy was discussing a big idea with me: opening a chain of mobile bread stalls in front of schools in the city. First, he'll go to Da Nang, find work at a bakery to learn the trade – Da Nang bread is famously delicious! Then, he'll invest in a certain number of bread carts. And not just any old, beat-up carts, mind you; they'll have built-in refrigeration systems to ensure the ingredients are always fresh and clean! After that, he'll ask a friend working in journalism or television to handle the media coverage, something like, "For the physical and intellectual development of your children, come to ABC XYZ bread, with advanced technology from... Europe and the delicious flavor of authentic Da Nang bread, a perfect blend of modern and traditional values ​​found in our hot, freshly baked bread..."

After a long, rambling conversation, he excitedly asked me: "Is it impressive? Is it feasible?" I nodded immediately: "It's impressive, but whether it's feasible... I'm not sure." I asked, "How much do you plan to charge per sandwich? Where will you hire the staff, and what will their salaries be? How much electricity and gas will a food cart like that cost each day for the refrigeration system? How many sandwiches do you expect to sell each day?" All the calculations showed a huge loss! My friend insisted, "Accept the initial losses; anything new is difficult, it takes time!" True to his word, he insisted on starting a food cart (probably because he was so discouraged by my advice that he decided to try one first). And sure enough, less than a week later, he closed the shop, completely failing.

At this point, perhaps everyone will scoff and say: "That's nonsense, they're talking about a billion-dollar project, what does it have to do with bread and meatballs?" I apologize, but due to my limited and simplistic thinking as someone who only drinks tea and discusses international affairs, that's all I can think of. Even the Ministry's experts are debating back and forth, unable to come up with an official figure for the project's cost! Those same experts, after much planning, only managed to produce a two-and-a-half-page report—in the end, probably only slightly longer than my friend's bread project proposal. What I mean is, even a tiny project by a bread vendor, without a plan, without specific research on options and risks, couldn't be implemented, let alone a national-scale project involving many stakeholders, with such deep, wide-ranging, and far-reaching influence as textbook reform.

The problem is that a bread vendor who loses money can close down and switch to repairing cars, selling sugarcane juice, etc., but a failed textbook project is a failure for society as a whole, both today and tomorrow. The losses from such a project are not just immediate; they're like a form of predatory lending, a kind of usurious loan, a continuous loss that will affect generations of our children in the future—no expert can predict the consequences. So don't think that 34 trillion VND is the crucial issue, and that if we don't get it, we're done. The real question is, where do you intend to invest that 34 trillion VND? In the future of society for several decades, or in a few bread carts that you can sell or not sell?

Hai Trieu

(Email from Paris)