Flexibility in teaching and learning Local Education after merger

Photo caption — First graders at An Dong Primary School in the first school year applying the new General Education Program. Photo: The Duyet/VNA

While there is no unified document for common use, based on the guidance of the Department of Education and Training, many schools in Hung Yen province have promoted the spirit of creativity, innovation, and flexibility in teaching and learning, both meeting the content requirements of the 2018 General Education Program and being suitable for local practices after the merger.

Efforts to keep the curriculum intact

According to the 2018 General Education Program, the content of Local Education is the basic or current issues of culture, history, geography, socio- economics , environment, career orientation... of the locality, supplementing the general compulsory education content unified throughout the country. In particular, at the primary level, the content of Local Education is integrated with experiential activities or in other subjects, such as: Vietnamese, Ethics, Nature and Society, Mathematics, History and Geography... At the secondary and high school levels, the content of Local Education has the same position as other subjects.

From July 1, 2025, Thai Binh province (old) and Hung Yen province (old) merged into Hung Yen province with a natural area of over 2,500 km2; population of over 3.5 million people; 104 communes and wards. The merger of administrative boundaries is not only a change on the map, but also affects the educational content in schools, especially local subjects. This is both a challenge and an opportunity for teachers to innovate and create to enrich their lessons, helping students access and experience more widely the culture, history and geography of the two lands.

Teacher Nguyen Van Chanh, Principal of Thuy Phong Primary School (Nam Thuy Anh Commune) said that to ensure that the teaching and learning of the 2018 General Education Program, especially the Local Education content, is not interrupted after the administrative unit arrangement, the Department of Education and Training has established a Committee to review the entire program of the 2 sets of Local Education documents of the 2 provinces of Thai Binh (old) and Hung Yen (old); at the same time, there are timely instructions on teaching content and topics to help schools and teachers be more proactive in preparing teaching materials. This both ensures close knowledge and expands so that students have a more comprehensive view of the new locality after the merger.

Taking the example of the Local Education content for grade 4, Mr. Nguyen Van Chanh said that the Department's instructions suggested choosing 6 topics with materials combined from the Local Education documents of the 2 provinces of Thai Binh (old) and Hung Yen (old) and updating reference materials, supplements, and adjustments. For example, the content "Nature and people of my hometown" was instructed to update the administrative boundary map according to the new province; the content "Local history and traditional culture" was instructed to use materials from Tran temple in Hung Ha (old Thai Binh) combined with the history and traditional culture of the locality of Hung Yen (old) province...

According to teacher Nguyen Van Chanh, in the 2025-2026 school year, the school has 688 students. After nearly 2 months of teaching and learning Local Education with new adjustments, the school's teaching staff quickly caught up with the changes, flexibly, proactively updated, and realized through each lecture, helping students understand more about their homeland in a new space.

For the secondary school level, teaching Local Education has higher requirements. Teacher Pham Hong Le, Ky Dong Primary and Secondary School (Dien Ha commune) said that in the 2025-2026 school year, she was assigned to teach History for grades 8 and 9. Immediately after the guidance of the Department of Education and Training, she proactively searched for materials to serve teaching the subject to ensure the content and requirements of the program as well as timely supplement the knowledge of the new administrative unit with materials combining the two interwoven documents of Local Education of Thai Binh province (old) and Hung Yen province (old).

Early completion of unified content framework

In the 2025 - 2026 school year, Hung Yen will have over 753,000 students; 496 preschools, 719 general education facilities, 33 vocational education facilities, 2 continuing education centers, 18 vocational education - continuing education centers... Although schools and teachers have been flexible, proactive, and closely followed the instructions of the Department of Education and Training, according to many teachers, teaching and learning Local Education with new administrative boundary changes also poses some challenges.

Teacher Pham Hong Le, Ky Dong Primary and Secondary School (Dien Ha Commune) said that currently, the curriculum content does not cover the entire scope of Hung Yen province, especially historical and geographical issues or innovation achievements... while there are no available documents for teachers to use. Therefore, each teacher must actively update the documents in the most accurate way to serve teaching and learning.

According to Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Hung Yen province, Ha Thi Thu Phuong, based on the practical situation of implementing local education documents and the requirements for adjustment and supplementation in accordance with the socio-economic, cultural and educational development of the province in the new period, on October 17, 2025, the People's Committee of Hung Yen province issued a Plan to build a curriculum framework and adjust local education documents.

Specifically, the revision, update and unified construction of a set of local education documents for Hung Yen province from grade 1 to grade 12 is carried out on the basis of inheriting, selecting and adjusting appropriate content from the set of local education documents for Hung Yen province (old) and Thai Binh province (old) that were compiled, reviewed and issued before the merger. The revised documents are scientific, accurate and systematic; honestly and comprehensively reflect the natural, economic - social, cultural, historical and traditional characteristics of Hung Yen province; at the same time, update the latest data, in accordance with the requirements of general education innovation and the practical situation after administrative boundary adjustment. In addition, the content of the unified shared documents must ensure connection with experiential activities, career orientation and other educational activities to create connectivity, unity and improve implementation efficiency in educational institutions in the province.

The tasks of building content frameworks, editing documents and steps of the appraisal and approval process will be carried out in the 2025-2026 school year; from the 2026-2027 school year, the unified teaching and learning of Hung Yen province's Local Education documents will be implemented after being approved by competent authorities. This is also the expectation of the teaching staff with unified, accurate and scientific documents on Hung Yen province after the merger, ensuring consistency and connectivity in teaching, meeting the goals of the 2018 General Education Program.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/giao-duc/linh-hoat-trong-day-va-hoc-mon-giao-duc-dia-phuong-sau-hop-nhat-20251024104642408.htm