Without compiling textbooks, what does the Ministry of Education use 16 million USD for?

vietnamnet.vn• December 2, 2019 15:49

More than 16 million USD was designed to be borrowed to compile a set of textbooks, but later the Ministry of Education and Training reported that it could not be implemented. Public opinion wondered what this money was used for.

The investment cost for the General Education Innovation project is about 80 million USD (calculated at the current exchange rate, about 1,800 billion VND). Of which, 77 million USD is ODA capital from the World Bank and 3 million USD is counterpart capital.

The project was approved in 2015, effective from August 8, 2016 and ending in 2020. Of this amount, 16 million USD is designed for the Ministry of Education and Training to organize the compilation of textbooks.

However, in May, the Ministry of Education and Training reported that it had not done this. What makes the public wonder is that when it does not organize the compilation of textbooks, what will the Ministry of Education and Training spend the 16 million USD on?

Talk toVietNamNetMr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh - Deputy Director of the Department of Secondary Education, Director of the General Education Innovation Support Project (Ministry of Education and Training) said that in the general education innovation support project in particular as well as any ODA project in general, the funding is strictly regulated in the agreement.

Ông Nguyễn Xuân Thành, Phó vụ trưởng Vụ Giáo dục Trung học, Giám đốc Dự án Hỗ trợ đổi mới giáo dục phổ thông (Bộ GD&ĐT). Ảnh: Thanh Hùng

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh - Deputy Director of the Department of Secondary Education, Director of the Project to Support Innovation in General Education (Ministry of Education and Training). Photo: Thanh Hung

The implementer then has to discuss with the sponsor the components, how much to spend on each item and write it down in a project implementation manual.

This project includes a textbook compilation component, with a project design budget of 16 million USD.

According to Mr. Thanh, 16 million USD is the total budget designed for textbook compilation, including organization costs for compilation, salaries for authors compiling all subjects/educational activities, conference fees, appraisal, testing, comments, etc.

In addition, there are also some funds for translating Braille books for the visually impaired, translating bilingual books in ethnic minority languages, etc.

"However, that is in the design, and to disburse that amount of money, each component of the work must have a plan, be approved, and the World Bank must issue a letter of no objection. The process is like that. The project will have a withdrawal application as it progresses. The withdrawal application must also be approved by the Ministry of Finance, the State Bank, and then the World Bank. After that, the money will be transferred to the project account and the organization will carry out each part of the activity.

Hoang Tru Primary School (Nam Dan). Photo courtesy of My Ha

Currently, the Ministry of Education and Training is not following the direction of creating a set of textbooks. Therefore, to receive financial support, it is necessary to restructure and reallocate that funding source. The Ministry of Education and Training will have to calculate what it will be used for to be appropriate in implementing the new program," Mr. Thanh said.

According to Mr. Thanh, implementing the new program has many tasks, in addition to writing textbooks, there are also tasks such as preparing documents to guide compilers, editors, etc. This includes being able to increase support for disadvantaged areas in purchasing textbooks for libraries so that students can borrow them, or some other tasks related to training teachers to implement the program.

Mỗi trường sẽ phải lập 1 hội đồng ít nhất 11 người để chọn SKG

Each school will have to set up a council of at least 11 people to choose SKG.

“Currently, the resources for training design teachers in the total of 77 million USD are quite limited compared to the number of nearly 1 million teachers and education managers. Therefore, the Ministry is proposing a restructuring. When proposing such a proposal, it must be discussed with the World Bank. Only after their approval can the allocation in that component be restructured. After that, the handbook must be revised, then there will be a basis to continue implementing those components in 2020 or extend the project later.”

According to Mr. Thanh, the Ministry of Education and Training has to restructure its work to other areas because it cannot produce textbooks. Currently, the Ministry of Education and Training is still negotiating with the World Bank until December 6.

“The design amount of 16 million USD is actually in the design plan, but when the implementation of the tasks is deemed reasonable and feasible, the World Bank will disburse the funds. It is not that the Ministry of Education and Training has received 16 million USD and if it does not make textbooks, it will have extra money to do other things. Everything is carried out according to the Project's objectives and the spending supervision of the Ministry of Finance and the World Bank,” Mr. Thanh said.

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