Strengthen management and bring experiential activities back to their true essence.
Experiential learning activities are currently being implemented in many schools throughout the province. However, the effectiveness is not high and mainly remains limited to sightseeing, recreation, and taking souvenir photos.
Experiential learning is a mandatory educational component in the 2018 General Education Program. It is one of the important educational methods, playing a key role in connecting learning with practice, and knowledge with reality. Through this, it contributes to improving the quality of the educational program, while promoting the holistic development and formation of students' qualities and competencies.
Recently, many schools in Nghe An province have regularly organized such events.experiential activitiesHowever, inspections and monitoring by the Department of Education and Training have shown that Some units have not paid sufficient attention to the management and organization of experiential activities, especially extracurricular activities; planning lacks specificity and does not ensure substance; activities mainly stop at sightseeing, recreation, and taking souvenir photos; and there is insufficient focus on designing activity content that is linked to the theme, lesson content, and educational goals of each educational level.
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Many activities have not created opportunities for children and students to directly observe, explore, practice, and experience in a way that develops their qualities and competencies; the selection of experiential learning locations in some schools is not fully based on educational goals, age characteristics, and curriculum content, leading to low educational effectiveness. Management, guidance, and safety measures for students are not strict enough in some cases, posing potential safety risks.
In fact, many parents have recently complained about some schools organizing experiential activities but charging inappropriate fees. During the organization of these activities, some units have failed to ensure safety, resulting in accidents during transportation. The collaboration with travel companies to take students on these experiential trips has also raised concerns among many parents…
Regarding this matter, on January 28th, the Nghe An Department of Education and Training issued Document No. 258/SGD&ĐT-VP&TT requesting continued strengthening of management and organization of experiential and career guidance activities at educational institutions in the province, in order to improve the effectiveness of implementing the 2018 General Education Program.
Accordingly, the Department of Education and Training requires educational institutions to continue strictly implementing regulations and guidelines on organizing experiential activities; to develop annual plans that are appropriate to the actual conditions of the school and locality, ensuring practical and effective content, and avoiding formality. Experiential activities must be organized according to the objectives, linked to the requirements of the 2018 General Education Program and the psychological and physiological characteristics of students at each educational level.
Extracurricular activities should only be organized when there is a specific and detailed plan; with the written consent of parents; and with the full implementation of safety measures. The selection of experiential learning locations should be based on educational goals, curriculum content, and learning themes; priority should be given to creative locations and models, production facilities, historical and cultural sites, craft villages, science centers, etc., that provide students with genuine experiences and avoid simply organizing activities that are purely for sightseeing and entertainment.
The Department also emphasized the responsibility of the heads of educational institutions in managing, organizing, and ensuring the quality of experiential activities; and requested the People's Committees of communes and wards to strengthen guidance and supervision, promptly rectify and strictly handle any violations (if any).
In the coming period, the Nghe An Department of Education and Training will strengthen the inspection and supervision of experiential learning activities at educational institutions, considering this as one of the important criteria for evaluating the quality of educational program implementation at each unit.
