Minister of Education and Training: Teachers must overcome their own limits

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - Honoring outstanding teachers representing 1.6 million teachers, Minister Nguyen Kim Son urged teachers to continuously learn, overcome their limitations, and best develop their excellence.

"Ginger becomes spicier with time, and teachers become more skilled with age."

The 16th awarding ceremony for the titles of People's Teacher and Excellent Teacher of units under the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and the commendation of outstanding teachers in 2024 took place on the morning of November 17th in Hanoi.

The event honored 21 People's Teachers, 65 Excellent Teachers, and 251 exemplary teachers, representing 1.6 million teachers nationwide.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son affirmed that education is a difficult task. Genuine, ethical education, oriented towards high quality, engaging learners, and spreading a spirit of creativity and endless learning inspiration is even more challenging.

Minister Nguyen Kim Son presents the title of People's Teacher, bestowed by the President of Vietnam , to the teachers (Photo: Tran Hiep).

"As the old saying goes, 'Ginger becomes spicier with time, and teachers become more skilled with age.' We sincerely hope that all teachers will continue to learn, innovate, and overcome their limitations to best develop their excellence."

Teachers are outstanding individuals who need to be the core group for solving new and challenging problems.

"Excellence doesn't wait for assignments or requests; it needs to be demonstrated through a spirit of dedication, responsibility, initiative, and enthusiasm in the work done, being done, and needing to be done for the country's education," the Minister emphasized.

Minister Nguyen Kim Son also outlined the challenging tasks that the education sector will face in the new context.

Following a successful initial phase of reform in general and higher education, the education sector must focus on reforming and upgrading preschool education.

Many issues were raised, such as mobilizing children to attend school, implementing the new preschool education program, universalizing preschool education according to age, ensuring sufficient teachers and facilities, mobilizing social resources, addressing infrastructure issues, school safety, combating violence and ensuring food safety, and ensuring sufficient teachers and conditions for teachers to work with peace of mind.

A cultural performance to celebrate the event honoring teachers on the morning of November 17th (Photo: Tran Hiep).

Furthermore, general education has reached the point of completing the first cycle of curriculum and textbook reform, requiring an evaluation of the implementation process, lessons learned, and necessary adjustments to carry out the reform in a more in-depth manner.

Many issues will need to be addressed thoroughly and comprehensively, such as human development in the new challenges of digital education, artificial intelligence, and making English the second language in schools.

For higher education, along with the in-depth implementation of university autonomy, one of the immediate tasks that needs to be carried out is to modernize teaching facilities, laboratories, and research equipment, which are still very poor and outdated compared to advanced universities around the world.

Education is not just about the mind, but also about the heart.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Ms. Vu Thi Hanh, Vice Principal of Chu Van An High School in Yen Bai province and one of the 21 People's Teachers of 2024, quoted President Ho Chi Minh's teachings, which she has always kept as a guiding principle for her career: "Teachers must find ways to teach. What to teach, and how to teach so that students understand quickly, remember for a long time, and progress rapidly."

Helping students understand quickly, remember for a long time, and progress rapidly is a challenging goal for any teacher, requiring teachers to constantly explore, research, and innovate in teaching methods.

Ms. Hanh shared that in each lesson, she invests time in research to find a suitable teaching method, adhering to the principle that in each lesson, knowledge must be concise, focused, and not spread too thin.

Lectures should maximize student engagement so that they can discover and explore knowledge on their own, which will help them remember it for a long time. In addition, learning must go hand in hand with practice, connecting theory with real-life situations, which will help students see the meaning of each subject.

"Beyond simply imparting knowledge, I believe that education is not just about intellect, but also about heart, and about 'teaching character' to my beloved students."

"The genuine love and proper care of each teacher can guide students through difficulties and challenges, helping them become exemplary students and useful citizens for society," Ms. Hanh said.

Among the more than 300 teachers honored on the morning of November 17th was Ms. Hoang Thi Huyen Trang, Principal of Be Trieu Kindergarten, Hoa An District, Cao Bang Province.

One of Ms. Trang's outstanding achievements is her initiative to improve the method of calculating meal portions for children in preschools. This initiative has been replicated in all preschools in Hiep Hoa district and neighboring districts of Cao Bang province.

Ms. Hoang Thi Huyen Trang - Principal of Be Trieu Kindergarten, Cao Bang (Photo: Hoang Hong).

In difficult socio-economic conditions, preschools lack the funds to purchase specialized software for calculating children's meal portions. The schools do not have dedicated kitchens, so teachers have to take on the additional responsibility of calculating children's daily meal portions.

Manual calculations are complex, prone to errors, and time-consuming. Furthermore, a miscalculation can significantly impact the quality of school meals, leading to food shortages, insufficient portion sizes, and nutritional deficiencies.

Ms. Trang developed a spreadsheet program in Excel with pre-set calculation formulas. Teachers only need to input data such as the number of students and the quantity per meal to calculate the detailed portion sizes, thereby determining the amount of food to buy or add each day and each meal.

Ms. Trang's spreadsheet program works without an internet connection, making it convenient to use. Teachers' workload is reduced, and the quality of school lunches is improved. Children are able to eat enough and enjoy their meals.

Ms. Trang is from Thai Nguyen province and graduated from Thai Nguyen University of Education with a degree in early childhood education. She moved to Cao Bang to work immediately after graduation and has stayed there for the past 15 years, despite the difficult and challenging conditions in the area.

"Having chosen the teaching profession, one must not be afraid of difficulties or hardships. If one were afraid of difficulties or hardships, they wouldn't have chosen this profession," Ms. Trang shared.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/bo-truong-bo-gddt-nha-giao-phai-vuot-qua-gioi-han-cua-ban-than-20241117114251068.htm