What did Minister Nguyen Kim Son say about spending 100 billion to develop the market and train textbooks?

Responding to the Delegate's opinion: "Regarding the violations at the Vietnam Education Publishing House (an enterprise under the Ministry, which must be criminally prosecuted, the responsibility of the governing body, namely the Ministry of Education and Training - Ministry of Education and Training) is partly due to the responsibility of the parent agency, namely the Ministry of Education and Training", the Ministry of Education and Training said that in 2021 and 2022, the Government Inspectorate , the Central Inspection Committee, and the Party Committee of the Central Agencies coordinated with the Ministry of Education and Training to inspect when there were signs of violations at the Vietnam Education Publishing House and concluded on the violations of the Publishing House in the previous period.

Bộ trưởng Nguyễn Kim Sơn nói gì về việc chi 100 tỉ phát triển thị trường và tập huấn SGK? - Ảnh 1.

Minister Nguyen Kim Son said the cost of market development and textbook training is only about 50 billion VND, not 100 billion VND.

Some units and individuals of Vietnam Education Publishing House have been disciplined. Currently, the Investigation Police Agency, Ministry of Public Security is continuing to investigate and handle according to the provisions of law.

Delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy raised questions about the fact that the VietnamEducation Publishing House had to correct 110,000 books and reprint 38,000 textbooks of natural science for grade 6 of the Connecting Knowledge with Life series, while according to the feedback of teachers at many schools, the books have not been replaced with new books.

In a written response, Minister Nguyen Kim Son said that the revision of the Natural Science textbook for grade 6 (Connecting knowledge with life) by the Vietnam Education Publishing House was carried out in accordance with the regulations in Circular No. 33/2017/TT-BGDDT.

When discovering that some content needed to be edited on 3 pages (157, 160, 189), Vietnam Education Publishing House submitted a report to the National Textbook Appraisal Council for approval (minutes attached). Vietnam Education Publishing House reported to the Ministry of Education and Training that it had recalled more than 110,000 books for correction and canceled the reprinting of 38,000 books (attached Report No. 1867/BC-NXBGDVN dated August 6, 2021).

The recall to replace 3 pages of textbooks with edited content was carried out while the books were still in storage and transportation, not yet widely distributed to students and teachers; the cancellation of reprinting was carried out during the printing process before binding by destroying the printed copies containing the edited pages for reprinting and binding. Therefore, according to the Minister of Education and Training, there is no need to exchange textbooks for teachers and students who have purchased the books.

Bộ trưởng Nguyễn Kim Sơn nói gì về việc chi 100 tỉ phát triển thị trường và tập huấn SGK? - Ảnh 3.

Currently, the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency is continuing to investigate the activities of Vietnam Education Publishing House.

Delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy said in the explanatory note of the financial report of Phuong Nam Education Investment and Development Joint Stock Company, one of the subsidiaries of Vietnam Education Publishing House, in less than 2 years, this company has spent nearly 100 billion VND to develop the market and provide training. So it is unclear whether the Ministry of Education and Training has inspected this content?

Minister Nguyen Kim Son said that Phuong Nam Investment Joint Stock Company has 43% of its charter capital contributed by Vietnam Education Publishing House.

Revenue and profit results have been audited and approved at the General Meeting of Shareholders. The figures are all made public through financial reports. According to the report of Vietnam Education Publishing House, the company's sales expenses include: employee salaries, warehouse and office rental costs, depreciation of fixed assets, market development costs, outsourcing services, and other expenses. Of which, market development costs (related to reporter remuneration, costs of organizing textbook introduction and training, costs of giving away books, costs of distributing and rewarding reference books for agents, book companies, etc.) in 2020 were 29.7 billion VND and in 2021 were 24.2 billion VND, accounting for 4.9% and 3.5% of revenue.

During the period from 2019 to 2022, the Government Inspectorate, the Central Inspection Committee, and the Inspection Committee of the Party Committee of the Central Agencies Bloc conducted inspections and examinations of the Vietnam Education Publishing House.

Currently, the Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security is also continuing to investigate the activities of the Vietnam Education Publishing House. The Ministry of Education and Training has been actively coordinating with ministries, branches and functional agencies to inspect, examine and investigate in accordance with the law on the production and business activities of the Vietnam Education Publishing House.

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