Life skills education in schools needs to be practical and effective.
(Baonghean.vn) - The new General Education Program focuses on teaching life skills to students, helping them apply knowledge to solve situations in life and study. Therefore, this is a content that is of great interest and is implemented in many forms in schools.
Increase independence and adaptability
The collective activities of Nga My Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Tuong Duong) are usually held every Thursday afternoon with many diverse activities, revolving around developing soft skills for students.
In the first weeks of the new school year, most of the content focuses on training students in communication skills, behavior, collective living skills, independence and self-study skills. The skills lessons are actually quite simple, but in an environment where 100% of the students are ethnic minorities, of which more than half are boarding students, this is extremely important. Meanwhile, for many different reasons, for many students in the past, learning and equipping themselves with knowledge about life skills was quite unfamiliar.
To demonstrate the effectiveness oflife skills education, teacher Nguyen Trong Hao - Principal of Nga My Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities led us to the school's boarding house. At around 5 pm, after class, the activities in the boarding house were quite orderly and serious. At this time, some students were exercising, some were helping the teachers in the kitchen prepare dinner. Some students took the opportunity to do personal hygiene, do laundry and clean up the study corner. The entire boarding house was cleaned, there was a green vegetable garden, and a place for group activities. The students were all confident, polite, not surprised when strangers came to visit and boldly talked.
Nga My is a remote area and is located at the end of Tuong Duong district, so the travel conditions are still difficult. However, what we are very happy about is that in recent years, not only Nga My children but also children from some neighboring communes have registered to study and stay at the school. To create this trust, in addition to teaching well in class, we also focus on moral education and life skills, helping students acquire basic skills to get used to collective life. In addition, we also encourage students to express themselves and actively participate in learning activities.
At Nghia Lam Primary School (Nghia Dan), where nearly 65% of students are ethnic minorities, life skills education is also focused on through integration into subjects and experiential activities...
Teaching life skills is organized by topic such as propaganda on fire prevention and fighting; drowning prevention; traffic safety. In addition, children are taught basic skills such as communication skills, self-service skills, skills to respond to situations in life, etc.
Must ensure substance and effectiveness
The 2018 general education program specifies the goal of helping learners master general knowledge; know how to effectively apply knowledge to life and self-study for life; have an orientation to choose a suitable career; know how to build and develop harmonious social relationships; have a rich personality, character and spiritual life; thereby have a meaningful life and contribute positively to the development of the country and humanity.
To achieve these goals, depending on each level of education, life skills education has been focused on, integrated, and incorporated into many subjects and many extracurricular activities by schools.
In Nghe An, in recent years, life skills teaching programs have received attention from many schools and parents. Most clearly, thousands of students have participated in life skills teaching programs in schools.
According to statistics from the Department of Education and Training, in the 2022-2023 school year, the whole province has more than 16,000 preschool children participating in life skills enhancement, accounting for 8.86%; at the primary level, there are more than 120,000 students, accounting for 36.4%; at the secondary level, there are about 1,800 students, accounting for 0.8%. Previously, the whole province had 152 units of life skills education and extracurricular educational activities licensed by the Department of Education and Training.
According to initial assessment, life skills education activities have contributed positively to raising awareness, guiding behavior, and training students in some necessary skills: cultural behavior, teamwork, health training, preventing traffic accidents, injuries, drowning; preventing school violence... However, besides the positive results, the process of organizing life skills teaching in Nghe An is having some shortcomings.
Notably, some educational institutions in the process of linking with life skills centers to organize after-school activities for students are inconsistent and lack synchronization, creating some negative public opinions.
Based on the above reality, since the beginning of this school year, the Department of Education and Training has had a policy of temporarily suspending the teaching of life skills in schools; at the same time, requiring schools and related units to review human resources, materials, teaching programs and other organizational conditions.
While waiting for new guidelines, life skills teaching continues to be maintained by schools in many different forms.
The temporary suspension of teaching life skills in the form of joint training in schools is a timely move for the centers to review their programs, personnel, and management methods. The schools also need to review whether the management of teachers at the center is appropriate or not, the quality of the program, and make appropriate recommendations.
Life skills education for students is necessary. In fact, there are many typical incidents across the country such as fires, accidents, drowning, and if students are equipped with skills and knowledge, they will not only save themselves but also help their friends. However, to increase the effectiveness and improve the quality of life skills education, there must be regular guidance from top to bottom in schools. Learning must ensure both theory and practice so that students feel interested and can apply it in practice.
The industry's view is that equipping students with life skills is necessary, but it needs to go in the direction of enhancing life values, life philosophy, and forming the culture and character of Nghe An people. In particular, the local education program must focus on this issue. The joint program to teach life skills is only to supplement what is lacking or not yet included in the official program and is only implemented when parents and students have a need.