Criticism is for moving forward.

This is a positive sign of a society that is not indifferent to education . However, this also raises a crucial question: should we use constructive criticism to move forward, or to stand still, or even regress?

In modern society, critical thinking is necessary and justified. This is even more crucial in education, as it is a top national priority, directly impacting millions of families and the nation's competitiveness. Every wrong decision in education has enormous consequences. Therefore, society has the right to monitor, question, and even oppose policies. An education system lacking critical thinking is prone to complacency, isolation, and the repetition of outdated practices.

However, constructive criticism is only truly valuable when it is based on scientific reasoning, credible evidence, and aims at improvement. Many current educational debates quickly shift to a skeptical attitude towards innovation, attributing motives, making generalizations, and even rejecting all reform efforts simply because of certain mistakes. Any change is met with anxiety, any pilot program with fear of risk, and any obstacles with a demand to stop. In this perspective, educational reform becomes something to be avoided rather than an essential need for development.

This approach implicitly sets impossible demands: reforms must be right from the start, no mistakes are allowed, and no disruption is permitted... However, education is a complex field, intertwined with people, culture, and social behavior. No educational reform in the world has succeeded without trial, adjustment, and debate.

It's worth noting that in many debates, the cost of not innovating is rarely mentioned. An outdated curriculum, teaching methods, and assessment system that emphasizes rote memorization may create a sense of "stability," but they diminish students' adaptability. In a world undergoing unprecedented rapid change, from technology and artificial intelligence to the labor market, an education system that lags behind innovation will produce generations unsuitable for the future.

Being open to educational innovation is therefore not a complacent attitude, but a strategic choice. Openness does not mean accepting everything or ignoring mistakes, but rather acknowledging that innovation is a process involving trial and error, adjustment, and learning. Openness means clearly distinguishing between policy design flaws and implementation flaws, between reform goals and specific implementation methods. A policy may be correct in its direction but flawed in its execution, and that needs to be corrected, not rejected from the outset.

Conversely, educational reform cannot be separated from accountability. As society becomes more open, administrators must be even more transparent.

In reality, constructive criticism only truly improves when society accepts that innovation is necessary. At that point, criticism moves beyond the question of "should we do it or not," shifting to "how to do it better." Debate becomes more data-driven, based on international comparisons and cost-benefit analysis, rather than driven by emotions or vague anxieties. Such criticism doesn't hinder reform but rather helps it stay on track and become more sustainable.

Education requires patience and dialogue. Innovation demands a balanced approach: daring to change but not recklessly, daring to critique but without extreme denial or distortion of the truth. Only when critique and innovation go hand in hand can education truly progress.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/phan-bien-la-de-di-toi-185260108230219787.htm