Will re-evaluate Vietnamese teaching methods according to Educational Technology books

Recently, delegate Tran Thi Dung questioned the Minister of Education and Training about the reform of the curriculum and textbooks. According to her, this must ensure that the pressure on students is reduced, but through the pilot, voters reported that it has not decreased but has increased significantly.

For programs, textbooksVietnamese Grade 1 Educational Technology, nearly 50 pilot localities. Some localities responded that they would not pilot because the books were only for areas where students had difficulty accessing Vietnamese. Delegates asked the Minister to respond about the pilot books and say whether the roadmap for curriculum and textbook innovation as set out in Resolution 33 of the National Assembly could be implemented?

On the morning of November 1, Minister Phung Xuan Nha said that one of the very important goals when developing general education programs and textbooks is to reduce the workload for teachers and students. Up to now, the Drafting Committee and program development experts have been closely following this goal.

With a cautious and thoughtful spirit, the Ministry of Education has directed the Drafting Committee to issue the overall program and the program of subjects. In the coming time, the Ministry will also seek opinions from the Government and the National Assembly to continue preparing textbooks, training teachers and working with localities to prepare schools.

"This innovation involves many activities and must be done carefully, so we think that the preparation must be thorough and within the time allowed by the National Assembly. The application period will start from the 2020-2021 school year for grade 1 according to a rolling schedule. Once implemented, there will be no pilot," said Mr. Nha.

He said that there is a pilot subject called Vietnamese. Two years ago, the Ministry conducted a survey, recently evaluated and came up with a method for teaching Vietnamese in grade 1. Now it is no longer an experimental method, but people still often say it is "experimental".

"The method of teaching Vietnamese for grade 1 according to the Educational Technology book along with the new VNEN school model will have to be re-evaluated according to the output requirements of the program. If it meets the requirements, a set of books will be developed and then it will become a prescribed book and no longer experimental," said the Minister.

Take responsibility for textbook waste

Responding to the question of delegate Huynh Thanh Canh about the current situation, responsibility and solutions to overcome the waste of textbooks, Minister Phung Xuan Nha said that with the current situation of textbook use, waste is real.

There are many reasons, but first of all, the current textbook design still has exercises that students can easily write and draw directly on, leading to not being able to use them many times. Although this design is professional and the authors have learned international experience, in the context of Vietnam's poverty, it is not really suitable, causing waste.

"With the responsibility of the Minister, I take responsibility for this," Mr. Nha said and informed that in response to the feedback from delegates and voters, the Ministry of Education has accepted and issued Directive 3798 directing the Departments of Education to guide local educational institutions in using and preserving textbooks and instructing students to limit writing in books.

"When compiling new textbooks, the Ministry of Education will require publishers to design exercises in the books to limit direct writing and drawing. The Ministry will also ask schools to launch a movement to preserve textbooks, donate to build libraries so that students can use them for free, or support students in disadvantaged areas," said the Minister.