Maintain high school exams, unify textbooks nationwide

TPO - Continuing to maintain the high school graduation exam and at the same time unifying a common set of textbooks nationwide. These are issues that National Assembly delegates agree on.

Organizing a common national exam will create a measurement standard.

On the afternoon of September 29, the conference of specialized National Assembly deputies gave opinions on draft laws related to the education sector.

Referring to the Law on Education, delegate Tran Van Lam ( Bac Giang ) was concerned about the content of the exam and the granting of high school graduation certificates. Affirming that this issue is very difficult to decide, he asked the agencies to analyze, evaluate, and clarify the advantages and disadvantages of each option so that delegates have a basis for decision.

Delegate Tran Van Lam. Photo: NA

“In my opinion, the important thing is the requirements and goals we set, we must improve the quality of education, improve the effectiveness of education. If we keep the assessment process but still ensure quality, we must keep it. But if we remove the assessment or the graduation process but still ensure output efficiency and quality, we will consider it now,” he said.

Meanwhile, delegate Nguyen Van Huy ( Hung Yen ) said that abolishing the junior high school diploma and having the school principal confirm the transcript to complete junior high school is reasonable.

“The junior high school diploma mainly confirms that students have completed the 9-year compulsory education program, which is confirmed through the transcript, so issuing a separate diploma is not really necessary,” Mr. Huy explained.

According to delegates, the recognition of graduation or granting of degrees causes additional administrative procedures, while the goal of 100% universalization has been achieved.

“Removing the junior high school diploma will avoid the mentality of considering grade 9 as having a diploma, which leads to early termination of studies. If only the completion of the level is recorded, students will tend to continue to high school or vocational training,” said Mr. Huy.

However, it is proposed to add regulations on building a system to confirm the completion of the universal lower secondary education program by using certificates or electronic data instead. At the same time, it is necessary to step up propaganda work to create consensus among the people.

Regarding the high school graduation exam and diploma, Mr. Huy agreed with the first opinion and suggested that the exam should still be held. According to him, the organization of the exam is not only to assess the level of general education standards of students, but more importantly, the organization of a common national exam will create a more objective measurement standard.

Unifying the national textbook set

Regarding general education textbooks, the draft stipulates that the state provides a set of textbooks for uniform use nationwide. According to Mr. Nguyen Van Huy, that is fairness in accessing modern quality education.

Delegate Nguyen Van Huy. Photo: NA

Basically agreeing with the draft, however, he suggested removing the phrase "ensuring equity in access to education", because the state's provision of a set of uniform textbooks already implies this.

Also concerned about textbooks, delegate Nguyen Thi Suu (Hue City) said that regulating the use of a number of textbook sets in a unified manner is a good solution to ensure fairness and suitability to Vietnam's reality. However, flexibility is needed for ethnic minority and disadvantaged areas.

Delegates proposed adding to the draft law the content "encouraging localities to compile, supplement or adapt local content to serve regional characteristics after approval by competent authorities".

Along with that, the draft needs to stipulate specific criteria for appraising local documents to avoid incorporating historical distortions or ethnic and religious divisions.

Sharing the same concern, delegate Nguyen Thi Thu Ha (Quang Ninh) agreed with the State providing a set of textbooks for unified use and transferring the authority to approve local documents to the provincial level.

In addition, Ms. Ha also proposed clearly defining the independent and transparent appraisal mechanism, criteria for selecting appraisal council members, sanctions against negativity, and a roadmap for free textbooks (if any) along with the budget for implementation.

“For local documents, there should be clear regulations on appraisal procedures, public disclosure of appraisal records and legal responsibilities of the provincial appraisal council,” said Ms. Ha.

'Very worried' about the impact of social media, AI in education

Delegate Tran Van Lam also reflected that public opinion is very worried about many issues affecting social networks, technology, and AI on education. According to him, if our 'line of sight' is not accurate from the beginning, the consequences will be far-reaching.

According to delegates, concerns focus on students' dependence on technology, indulging in the virtual world, limiting social relationships, especially the issue of uncontrolled use of AI in teaching and learning.

“Students depend on AI, asking is enough, so what kind of thinking is left? Technology needs to be applied to improve quality, but how and in what direction should it be used to improve human quality, and develop future output products?”, Mr. Lam raised the issue.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/giu-ky-thi-thong-nhat-mot-bo-sach-giao-khoa-tren-toan-quoc-post1782324.tpo