National Assembly deputies propose to 'return' the right to choose textbooks to teachers, avoiding group interests

On the sidelines of the 5th session of the 15th National Assembly, National Assembly delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy (Da Nang delegation) said that Resolution 88 of the National Assembly on innovation of general education programs and textbooks stipulates that there will be many sets of textbooks, and the selection of textbooks will be undertaken by school teachers. However, when promulgating the Education Law in 2019, the Ministry of Education and Training decided to assign the provincial People's Committee to decide on the selection of textbooks instead of giving the authority to the local authorities.

"Before the promulgation of theEducation Law, I had repeatedly commented on the shortcomings when the Ministry of Education and Training assigned the People's Committees of provinces and cities to decide on textbook selection. At that time, my opinion was only a minority opinion, and I had to give in to the opinions of the majority. After the Education Law took effect and was put into practice, this shortcomings have been clearly revealed," said Ms. Thuy.

National Assembly deputies propose to 'return' the right to choose textbooks to teachers, avoiding group interests - 1 — National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy ( Da Nang Delegation).

Many high school teachers are very passionate and love their profession. Today they take the content from this textbook, tomorrow they take another better book to teach, as long as they achieve the best quality.

In order for teachers to choose books, publishers will have to go to millions of educational institutions across the country to encourage them to buy textbooks. If the provincial and municipal People's Committees choose books, publishers only need to mobilize 63 provinces and cities, and the specialized agency is the Department of Education and Training to advise, this is much easier.

"Comparing like this, we can see which one is more easily exploited between Resolution 88 and the Law on Education, serving group interests," the female delegate said, adding that it is necessary to amend the Law on Education, consistent with Resolution 88, and assign educational institutions and teachers to choose books. This is the best solution, and teachers have reflected a lot after 4 years of implementation.

While waiting for the Law on Education to be revised, Circular 25 of the Ministry of Education and Training regarding textbook selection can be revised first. This Circular does not have specific sanctions, it only provides regulations on how many people are needed in the textbook selection council, who they include... The Circular does not take into account the case where some localities do it properly, some do it poorly, leading to textbook selection in many provinces and cities not being truly objective, with group interests.

In previous sessions, she discussed how buying textbooks has become a burden for many parents. The main reason is that the units that distribute books through schools always sell textbooks along with a large number of reference books.

The Ministry of Education and Training has taken into account the above opinions to issue a directive requiring an end to the practice of packaging textbooks and reference books together. Currently, there is no longer a situation of forcing students to buy reference books in any form. The female delegate from Da Nang noted that through actual monitoring, the directive has basically been seriously implemented.

To reduce the burden of textbook prices on parents and students, this delegate expressed that at the 4th session, it was proposed to regulate textbook prices in the form of a price frame, including: maximum price and minimum price like other items priced by the State. "However, the above proposal was not included by the Ministry of Finance in the draft Law on Prices (amended) submitted to the National Assembly this time, although the Minister of Finance previously promised to accept it," he said and requested to clarify and explain the above concerns.

National Assembly deputies propose to 'return' the right to choose textbooks to teachers, avoiding group interests - 2 — Textbooks for the new general education program. (Illustration photo)

On February 8, at a working session between the National Assembly's Supervisory Delegation and the People's Committee of Dong Da District (Hanoi), Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son frankly asked the leaders of schools in the district "whether there was any suggestion or imposition in the selection of textbooks?".

School leaders all affirmed: “There is no imposition in textbook selection. The selection process is transparent, public and the results of textbook selection are exactly as the teachers and schools have agreed.”

From this information, Minister Son affirmed the "no retreat" viewpoint in implementing the 2018 general education program. Implementing the new program is to implement the resolutions of the Party, National Assembly, and Government.

In the process of implementing new textbooks and general education programs, it is necessary to promptly identify problems, especially when implementing them in the context of each locality's conditions, in order to create a premise for groups with favorable conditions to develop, pay attention to the majority and support disadvantaged groups, the Minister emphasized.

Ha Cuong

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