National Assembly approves History as compulsory subject

“The National Assembly has also reflected the position and aspirations of the majority of people, not only history teachers but also many students, veterans, especially the elderly, who have never known what the internet is,” said Associate Professor Vu Quang Hien.

According to Associate Professor Vu Quang Hien, right in the area where his family lives, in meetings of the Party cell and neighborhood groups, many people have expressed their opinions about History being an integrated subject.

Commenting on the direction from the National Assembly to approve History as a compulsory subject in the new general education program, Associate Professor Vu Quang Hien said that the Ministry of Education and Training will certainly have to adjust the draft in the coming time.

Because all subjects are important, but History has its own unique characteristics, which are expressed in two aspects: first, this subject itself is highly integrated; second, this subject provides a foundation of knowledge about national culture, building Vietnamese people.

Therefore, there is no subject that can replace it. If it is divided and loses its unity, the consequences are clearly unpredictable.

“With this directive, the Ministry of Education and Training will definitely have to change, it cannot do otherwise, if the Ministry does otherwise, it will certainly encounter many reactions from public opinion. And the National Assembly has seen this, therefore, this decision also represents the people, it is a decision that needs to be respected,” Associate Professor Vu Quang Hien affirmed.

Primary school students are often interested in historical stories.

As a high school history teacher, Mr. Tran Trung Hieu (Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, Nghe An) said that when he heard that the National Assembly proposed that History be a compulsory subject, he breathed a sigh of relief. Because for more than 2 months, he and his colleagues have not been able to eat well or sleep well because of the issue of integrating History.

Perhaps recognizing the efforts of Mr. Tran Trung Hieu in fighting to protect the position of History in the draft of the new curriculum, when the Resolution passed by the National Assembly still proposed that History be a compulsory subject in the general education program, Historian Duong Trung Quoc called Mr. Hieu first.

“I think I contributed a small part to create a very happy result, when the National Assembly decided that History was not included in the integrated subjects. This is something to be appreciated. Today, I have lost weight and feel exhausted because I spent a lot of time fighting, sometimes falling into a dead end because of the conservatism of the Ministry of Education and Training.

I still tell history teachers that this is an initial and fundamental victory. The most important thing is that my colleagues and I are waiting for the Ministry of Education and Training to accept and respond to the decision of the highest authority in the country. But I believe this is a turning point, it seems that it cannot overcome the conservatism of the Ministry, but now the Minister must comply," affirmed Mr. Tran Trung Hieu.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Vinh Hien: We must take seriously the task of making history education not cause heavy pressure and boredom for students as it does now. Photo: Hai Nguyen

Previously, the Draft of the General Education Program received special attention in the History subject. According to this draft, in primary school, History is integrated into the Social Science subject as a compulsory subject, and in secondary school, this subject is differentiated again in the elective subjects.

High school level will have only 4 compulsory subjects including: Literature, Foreign Language 1, Math, Citizenship and the Fatherland (integrated from three sub-subjects: Moral Education, History, National Defense and Security Education).

In response to the concerns of historians, on the afternoon of November 3, the Ministry of Education and Training worked with the Vietnam Historical Science Association, representatives of the Central Propaganda Department, the Union of Science and Technology Associations and related units on the Draft. Here, opinions expressed a completely disagreeing view on the integration of History at the high school level as stated in the Draft.

On November 15, at the Scientific Conference on History, experts criticized the Ministry of Education and Training for “killing History” when developing a new general education program. Immediately after, answering questions from National Assembly delegates, Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan said that he would consider carefully and if it was not appropriate, he would not integrate History.

According to Vietnam Education