Forcing students to be excellent in all aspects is like 'making fish climb trees'

It is not uncommon for students to only focus on studying subjects for the 10th grade entrance exam and university entrance exam while neglecting other subjects. In recent years, the Ministry of Education and Training has continuously introduced innovations and reforms in the education program to limit this situation, but perhaps these efforts have not been really effective and have unintentionally added more burden and pressure to students.

Each subject in school has its own purpose in educating students' thinking and perception. For example, Physical Education aims to train students' health. If this subject is neglected, students will be physically weak, lack health, and not have enough energy to study and play.

Music and Fine Arts are often considered "secondary" subjects, but these are important foundational subjects that help students develop their creative talents and aesthetic eyes, thereby increasing their confidence, communication skills and cooperation skills in learning.

The issue of lopsided learning and rote learning is an eternal story with conflicting views from parents, students and education managers. It is necessary to frankly admit that students paying too much attention to a few subjects such as Math, Literature, and English is also lopsided learning.

The Ministry of Education and Training gives the reason that it is afraid that students will study in an unbalanced way, but the Ministry itself is organizing unbalanced exams with three subjects: Math, Literature, and English to measure and evaluate students. Why not have a variety of exams or let students choose their own exams based on their own abilities and career orientation when they go to high school or university?

Unbalanced learning and rote learning are eternal stories with opposing views. (Illustration photo)

Focusing too much on some subjects like Math, Literature, and English in the long run will cause a lack of basic knowledge, and when exposed to a variety of problems outside the school environment, it can easily cause confusion and bewilderment.

Learning all subjects as pointed out is very important, but between learning and learning well are two completely different issues. Each child has a talent as well as a love for a certain field, subject. Therefore, there are subjects that for this student are easy to absorb, interesting, but for another student they are dry, boring, cannot be absorbed easily, which is completely normal and understandable.

Adults, parents, teachers and educational administrators need to have the right orientation so that students can develop their talents instead of stubbornly holding on to the ingrained notion that "ugly is better than good".

In fact, a good doctor need not know the measurements of the acceleration of light or the force of gravity. A good athlete may not know how to calculate the area of ​​a triangle inscribed in a circle. And certainly not knowing that litmus paper turns red when exposed to an acid solution and blue when exposed to a base solution will not prevent a person from becoming a talented writer.

There needs to be proper guidance for students to develop their talents. (Illustration photo)

In the education program, there are scales to evaluate the level of achievement in each subject. Students only need to achieve this score to pass the subject. It is encouraging that students can achieve success in subjects that they are not good at or are not interested in.

Accepting the need to only achieve passing grades in some subjects helps students reduce the pressure of studying when having to spread too much time to take on subjects they do not like. This also means helping them have more time to focus on developing and learning their strengths.

My eldest son is now an architect, I am always proud of him and his career. To have the job he has now, my son has worked very hard for his dream of becoming an architect since his middle and high school years.

Instead of choosing to become a good student in Math, Literature, English, etc., I oriented my child to study Math and Fine Arts to serve the goal of reaching his passion. My child still studied and maintained the remaining subjects at an average to good level. Neither I, nor the teachers, nor the educational program at that time saw this as inappropriate. And reality proved that we were right in creating a good educational "product".

Or with my youngest daughter who is currently in grade 9 in the new general education program. In addition to the subjects that are expected to be transferred to the next level, my child is always in a state of tension because of other subjects.

Since hearing the news that the Ministry of Education and Training is drafting a plan to draw lots for the 10th grade entrance exam to avoid lopsided learning and rote learning, my child has been sitting on a bed of fire because he is worried about how to study all those subjects while his time is not extended at all.

My child feels like he is sitting on a pile of fire because he is worried about how to study. (Illustration photo)

My child is naturally inclined towards social subjects, he likes to read books and has a great passion for history and geography. On the contrary, he has a harder time learning natural subjects. I always remind him not to neglect subjects he doesn't like, but I also don't force him or put too much emphasis on academic achievement in these subjects.

With the exam program, the assessment of each subject, when achieving enough passing scores, should be taken for granted that the child does not study lopsidedly or learn by rote, so why must it be included in the high school exam to avoid rote learning and learning by rote? As a parent, everyone wants their child to study well, but if I choose to trade my child's love and happiness for scores, I will choose to give my child joy.

After all, being successful and good is just to live a happy life. Seeing my child struggling with subjects he doesn’t like makes me feel so sad. I’m not perfect, you’re not perfect either, so why do we force our children to be perfect when they are good at all subjects?

Dr. Dang Huy Phuoc

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/ep-hoc-sinh-gioi-toan-dien-chang-khac-nao-bat-ca-leo-cay-ar900891.html