The happy school model does not stop at slogans but must go into depth.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc said that the happy school model does not stop at slogans but must really go into depth and bring practical results.

On November 29, the Conference to review 1 year of implementing the happy school model took place in Ho Chi Minh City with the participation of Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc An - Chairman of the VietnamEducation Trade Union, Ms. Miki Nozawa - Head of Education Department of UNESCO Vietnam.

Thứ trưởng Bộ GDĐT: Mô hình Trường học hạnh phúc không dừng lại ở khẩu hiệu, phải đi vào chiều sâu - Ảnh 1. — Conference to review 1 year of implementing the happy school model in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Nguyet Minh

Happy school model: A place where students can learn with joy, curiosity, creativity, and respect for knowledge

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc - Deputy Minister of Education and Training highly appreciated the efforts and achievements of Ho Chi Minh City after 1 year of implementing the happy school model. In the context that 1 year before, there were still many doubts and worries from teachers when starting to implement the model.

Thứ trưởng Bộ GDĐT: Mô hình Trường học hạnh phúc không dừng lại ở khẩu hiệu, phải đi vào chiều sâu - Ảnh 2. — Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc - Deputy Minister of Education and Training highly appreciated the efforts and achievements of Ho Chi Minh City after 1 year of implementing the happy school model. Photo: Nguyet Minh

According to Mr. Phuc, over the past year, Ho Chi Minh City has affirmed its pioneering and creative role in implementing the happy school model. The city not only organized 3 in-depth seminars to listen to opinions from experts, scientists and education managers, but also built a set of criteria including 3 standards and 18 important criteria. This is a clear demonstration of the sense of responsibility, methodicalness and dedication of the Ho Chi Minh City education sector in building a humane and progressive educational foundation.

"The implementation results over the past year in the City have created positive changes, not only in the awareness of staff and teachers but also strongly spreading to students and parents. Schools in the city are not only places to impart knowledge and skills, but are gradually becoming truly happy "second homes" - Mr. Phuc said.

Thứ trưởng Bộ GDĐT: Mô hình Trường học hạnh phúc không dừng lại ở khẩu hiệu, phải đi vào chiều sâu - Ảnh 3. — A happy school is a place where everyone can learn, grow and have fun at the same time. It is a place where everyone feels happy, welcomed, respected and supported. Photo: Nguyet Minh

According to Mr. Phuc, a humane and happy education system will be a solid foundation for building a sustainable society. He hopes that every teacher and every education officer will consider this as a responsibility and also an opportunity to contribute to the country's education cause.

Happy school is a very special and interesting concept but also very difficult to implement. The criteria must be implemented systematically, while avoiding the situation of implementing it in a formal way or evaluating it in an administrative manner.

The Deputy Minister of Education and Training affirmed: "The Ministry of Education and Training is committed to accompanying, supporting and creating maximum conditions for the City and other localities to successfully and sustainably implement the "Happy School" model; at the same time, we will continue to coordinate with international organizations to update advanced experiences and build more practical solutions to improve the effectiveness of this model."

The happy school model is not simply a movement.

Thứ trưởng Bộ GDĐT: Mô hình Trường học hạnh phúc không dừng lại ở khẩu hiệu, phải đi vào chiều sâu - Ảnh 4. — Mr. Nguyen Ngoc An - Chairman of the Vietnam Education Trade Union emphasized that the happy school model is not simply a movement. Photo: Nguyet Minh

On the same issue, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc An - Chairman of the Vietnam Education Trade Union emphasized that the happy school model is not simply a movement. According to Mr. An, this is a trend, a tool to solve all problems of modern education.

Mr. An believes that a happy school is not just about formal innovation, such as organizing exciting performances, hanging flags and flowers, and redecorating the school, but also about changing the substance.

"Happy schools are not as easy to understand or do as we imagine. But happy schools are what we need and what we have to work on," Mr. An shared.

Emphasizing the role of the happy school model, Ms. Miki Nozawa - Head of Education of UNESCO Vietnam said: "A happy school is a place where everyone can learn, develop and have fun at the same time. It is a place where everyone feels happy, welcomed, respected and supported".

Thứ trưởng Bộ GDĐT: Mô hình Trường học hạnh phúc không dừng lại ở khẩu hiệu, phải đi vào chiều sâu - Ảnh 5. — Ms. Miki Nozawa - Head of Education Department of UNESCO Vietnam speaking at the conference. Photo: Nguyet Minh

According to Ms. Miki Nozawa, the happy school initiative launched by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training is completely consistent with UNESCO's global framework on happy schools as well as UNESCO's cooperation with Vietnam in promoting comprehensive, equitable and quality education for all, towards the United Nations' sustainable development goal number 4 on education.

UNESCO proposes the concept of happy schools to put happiness at the heart of transforming countries' education systems.

Over the past decade, a regional framework for happy schools has evolved at the global level. This global framework provides four pillars: People, Process, Place, Learning Environment and Principles, along with 12 high-level criteria that can be adapted to national and local contexts.

The framework is informed by a growing body of evidence linking well-being to better learning, teaching, physical and mental health and whole-system resilience. It focuses on five key elements: supportive learning environments, inclusive development, engaged communities, quality teaching and learning and equitable access to education.

After receiving the opinions of the leaders, Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu - Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City affirmed that the Department of Education and Training of the City would like to commit to comprehensively receiving and concretizing the directives with the following 4 key tasks:

1. Enhance leadership and comprehensive management:

Perfecting criteria suitable for the practice of building a safe and friendly educational environment, spreading the values of the happy school model.

The City's Department of Education and Training will promote its pioneering role in building and implementing the "Happy School" model. Principals and school leaders will be trained to become managers with both heart and vision.

2. Perfecting criteria to suit reality

The "happy school" criteria set will continue to be reviewed and supplemented based on comments from experts, teachers and students, ensuring feasibility and effectiveness.

3. Building a safe and friendly educational environment

The sector will focus on promoting solutions to prevent school violence, while creating the best conditions for the comprehensive development of both teachers and students.