The 2018 General Education Program moves towards quality depth

GD&TĐ - The implementation of the 2018 General Education Program nationwide shows a diverse picture with many positive results, but there are also difficulties that need to be resolved.

From teaching staff, facilities to program and textbook management, localities have made recommendations and solutions to improve the effectiveness of implementing the new program in the next phase.

The diverse "picture"

Ms. Vo Thi Minh Duyen - Deputy Director of Dak Lak Department of Education and Training said that after more than 5 years of implementing the 2018 General Education Program, the Dak Lak Education sector has made efforts to overcome many difficulties, achieved important results, contributing to the fundamental and comprehensive innovation of general education in the province. The quality of education has changed positively, the scale of schools and classes is stable. The rate of mobilizing students to go to school is high, and universal education is maintained.

The team of teachers and managers has improved their qualifications and capacity to meet the requirements of innovation. The socialization of education, encouragement of learning and talent promotion has been promoted. The quality of mass education has been maintained stably, the gap between regions has gradually narrowed. The quality of key education has continuously increased, especially in the 2024-2025 school year, the province's key education achievements have reached the highest level ever.

However, the implementation has shown many difficulties and limitations. Accordingly, the facilities and teaching equipment in many areas have not met the requirements; the rate of primary school students studying 2 sessions/day is still low; there is a shortage of teachers in some subjects and new educational activities. Some local educational materials have not been printed and distributed; the selection of textbooks is still scattered, causing difficulties in professional activities of school clusters.

Investment resources for education are limited compared to actual needs. The main reasons, according to Ms. Vo Thi Minh Duyen, are due to difficulties in investment funding; the number of primary school teachers retiring has not been recruited yet; the mechanism for decentralization of management and coordination at all levels is sometimes not synchronized.

With great efforts, Hue City also achieved remarkable results in implementing the 2018 General Education Program. Emphasizing some outstanding results, Mr. Nguyen Tan - Director of the Department of Education and Training, mentioned the average score of the 2025 High School Graduation Exam of the locality reaching 6.61, ranking 9/34 provinces and cities, with 5 subjects in the top 10 nationwide.

Digital transformation is being promoted, digital report cards are being deployed at all three levels of education, and educational data is being connected with national population data. Schools are being given more autonomy and many innovative models have been created, linking education with heritage and STEM.

However, reality has shown that there are bottlenecks that need to be resolved. According to Mr. Nguyen Tan, these are the shortage of teachers; subject classrooms and teaching equipment are not synchronized; procedures for purchasing equipment are still cumbersome and lengthy. In addition, although local educational materials have been approved, the progress of publishing and distributing them is still slow. The socialization of education has not really created a strong push to mobilize resources outside the budget.

In Nghe An , over the past 5 years, the Education sector has seriously, creatively and flexibly implemented the 2018 General Education Program and achieved many important results. Sharing local experiences, Mr. Vo Van Mai - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training, emphasized first of all the initiative, determination and perseverance of the Education sector in advising on the promulgation of local mechanisms and policies, and coordinating to mobilize resources.

At the same time, implementing innovation in programs and textbooks must be closely linked and synchronized with innovation in school governance, state management at all levels, and implementing innovation in teaching methods, innovation in testing and assessment of each teacher, and strong digital transformation in management and teaching.

Paying special attention to developing the teaching staff is also an important lesson. This attention needs to be synchronized from recruitment, placement, training, fostering, emulation and rewards; in particular, fostering work needs to be close to the needs of teachers. In addition, focus on enhancing digital transformation in education; carry out communication work proactively and regularly to gain consensus in the whole industry and society.

Photo illustration INT.

Ensuring conditions for implementation in the new context

Regarding Ho Chi Minh City, according to information from Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training, the Education sector has proactively reviewed the conditions and advised the City People's Committee to prepare and meet the staff, facilities, and funding requirements to implement the new program and textbooks.

The innovation of general education programs and textbooks is being implemented on schedule, closely following the education innovation policy and directives at all levels. The synchronous implementation, promoting proactiveness, creativity, and responsible coordination helps improve the effectiveness of the organization and implementation of the 2018 General Education Program...

In the coming time, Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc proposed: To the National Assembly, decide to implement the unified use of a set of textbooks nationwide according to the roadmap to ensure the best preparation of conditions for managers, teachers, students, and parents. The Government shall specify the decentralization of management, inspection, and examination of schools belonging to higher education institutions; pay attention to the retirement age of teachers in accordance with the specific nature of the work in the education sector.

Ministries and ministerial-level agencies need to issue specific mechanisms and policies on teaching two sessions per day for high school students; research and issue regulations on specialized equipment standards for digital learning materials and digital transcripts; specific policies on online teaching and online teaching combined with direct teaching; and direct teacher training schools to train and foster educational content to standardize teachers.

The implementation of the new program in Nghe An also has many limitations, shortcomings, difficulties, and problems, and the locality is making efforts to gradually overcome them. Sharing this, Deputy Director Vo Van Mai proposed that the Ministry of Education and Training advise the Government to have a separate policy on the staffing of the Department of Education and Training, the Department of Culture and Social Affairs (under the People's Committee at the commune level); ensure the staffing of teachers in educational institutions; and not rigidly implement the policy of reducing the staffing by 10%.

The Ministry of Education and Training continues to support and guide localities in implementing digital transformation and STEM education; provide guidance on the roadmap for implementing a set of textbooks nationwide, so that localities can proactively advise Party committees and local authorities to ensure conditions for implementation in educational institutions.

Entering the second cycle of innovation of general education programs and textbooks, associated with the implementation of Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW of the Politburo, Mr. Nguyen Tan hopes that the Ministry of Education and Training will continue to propose to the Central Government to supplement the staff and not to reduce the staff by 10% in the Education sector. Along with that, continue to research and adjust the content and organization of teaching of integrated subjects to suit the specific characteristics of the school level, ensuring consistency and synchronization nationwide.

At the same time, review and adjust the regular training program and regulations related to training in a systematic and effective manner to best promote the spirit of lifelong learning in the team, build a team of teachers and managers with sufficient capacity to meet the requirements of improving the quality of education and training in the new period.

Deputy Director of the Dak Lak Department of Education and Training, Vo Thi Minh Duyen, proposed that the Ministry of Education and Training continue to have special priority policies for teachers working in remote areas, ethnic minority areas, mountainous and border areas.

Regarding investment in facilities, continue to allocate capital from national target programs for education; support minimum teaching equipment for all grades according to the 2018 General Education Program roadmap. Regarding the teaching staff, allow localities to flexibly recruit teachers to teach new subjects; promote training and update teaching skills towards developing students' qualities and abilities.

Ms. Vo Thi Minh Duyen hopes that the Ministry of Education and Training will soon advise competent authorities to amend and supplement the Law on Education and related legal documents on compiling local educational materials in the direction of assigning the Provincial People's Committee to organize the compilation, appraisal and approval of these materials for teaching and learning in general education institutions.

The Ministry of Education and Training coordinated with the Ministry of Finance to amend and supplement Circular 51/2019/TT-BTC dated August 15, 2019, to facilitate the compilation, printing and distribution of local educational materials.

According to the assessment of the Ministry of Education and Training, localities have been proactive and determined in directing and issuing resolutions, projects and plans when implementing the innovation of programs and textbooks. Although the implementation is still different between localities and educational institutions, it has basically met the goals and requirements of innovation.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/chuong-trinh-giao-duc-pho-thong-2018-tien-toi-chieu-sau-chat-luong-post754441.html