Table forward, no table backward

The General Education Program (GDPT) 2018 is considered a step to radically and comprehensively change teaching and learning, meeting the requirements of developing students' quality and capacity in a modern direction. But innovation is never easy. According to Professor Nguyen Minh Thuyet - Editor-in-Chief of the 2018 GDPT Program, in order to fundamentally and comprehensively innovate education, first of all, it is necessary to fundamentally and comprehensively innovate thinking. Doing new things with the old mindset cannot succeed.

+ How do you evaluate the view that the Ministry of Education and Training should be assigned to compile a separate set of textbooks according to the new general curriculum, how will this affect the context of educational socialization?

- Prof. Nguyen Minh Thuyet: Before deciding on a matter, we must clear away the clouds of smoke that unintentionally or intentionally cover the subject in order to see the truth clearly.

Some people worry that letting businesses make books will ensure political and ideological security? This worry is unfounded, because the book is compiled according to the Program of the Ministry of Education and Training, has an appraisal board and is approved by the Minister before being released. In addition, all books, whether compiled by any organization or individual, must be approved by publishers in order to be published and distributed.

Some people worry that socialization will ensure safety in product distribution? In fact, during the past 4 years, there has been no publishing unit that has not provided enough textbooks for schools. Providing enough textbooks for consumers is the right of book publishers. Therefore, no unit is foolish enough to let consumers not buy textbooks.  

There are people who think that it is very difficult to control the price of textbooks, without a set of books "of the State". But this worry is not realistic because the Law on Price has just been revised by the National Assembly to include textbooks in goods that are priced by the State.

Many times, if the information is obscure, it is difficult to answer the questions accurately, and through the information, it is possible to decide what to do.

In the Law on Government Organization and the Law on Education, there is no provision that state management agencies have functions and tasks of production and business or the Ministry of Education and Training has the function of organizing textbook compilation.

Relying on Resolution 88 to compile more "State textbooks" is also contrary to Resolution 122 of the National Assembly, which clearly stipulates: "When compiling textbooks according to the social method If each specific subject has completed at least one textbook that is appraised and approved in accordance with the Education Law No. 43/2019/QH14, the compilation of textbooks will not be conducted using the budget. the state of that subject”. 

In fact, we are not talking about not having enough human resources when all three books have taken all the leading experts in the industry. Just know that now that the Ministry of Education and Training makes a set of books "of the State", the state budget will be more expensive, not to mention that if so, all localities will definitely choose books again, so the trillions that the government has publishing, businesses that have spent the past 3 years making books will become scrap paper.

That's not to mention the hardships and costs associated with a process that repeats five years in a row: teachers meet to discuss book selection, attend annual training sessions to teach new books, and re-write the entire lesson plan. And students' parents will "cry to heaven" for waste, because "I can't learn your books" and so on.

Finally, I would like to warn that the fact that the Ministry of Education and Training makes a set of "State" textbooks at this time will lead to the inevitable consequences of pushing back, even eliminating socialization, contrary to all Resolutions of the Party and the National Assembly.

+ Has our educational thinking so far not escaped the shadow of the old thinking? In the coming time, what needs to be done by the Ministry of Education and Training to make the 2018 GDPR program achieve the most expectations?

- Prof. Nguyen Minh Thuyet: We must understand education and be consistent in our ways, thinking, and advocating for new paths. If you plow in the middle of the road, nothing can be successful.

What the Ministry of Education and Training needs to do right now is to promote the state management role to correct problems such as the selection of textbooks in the localities, the training of teachers, the integrated teaching guide, renewing the test plan and the assessment of teaching and learning results in general; otherwise, it is very difficult to execute the program.

In fact, many localities still have not been able to properly implement the spirit of the National Education Program due to a lack of human resources and facilities; In many places, the number of students in the class is too high, the lack of schools, especially the lack of public schools in new urban areas.

There are more things to pay attention to than compiling another set of State textbooks. To reform education, we must discuss how to train the young generation to become new Saint Giong, not discuss: Is there a real Saint Giong?

PV