Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training PHAM HONG THANG: Determined to successfully implement the first school year after the province merger

On September 5, the whole country will hold the opening day of the new school year 2025-2026. This is the first school year after the merger of the two old provinces of Dong Nai and Binh Phuoc into the new Dong Nai province. This new school year, Dong Nai has over 1.2 million students, especially the province has 8 border communes that need investment in building schools according to Notice No. 81-TB/TW concluding the Politburo on the policy of investing in building schools for border communes.

Deputy Director of Department of Education and Training Pham Hong Thang.

On this occasion, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training (DET) Pham Hong Thang had an interview with reporters of Dong Nai Newspaper and Radio and Television about preparations for the new school year.

Sir, what is special about the new school year 2025-2026 for the Dong Nai Education and Training sector?

- The 2025-2026 school year is the first school year after the province's merger. Therefore, the education and training sector has received close attention and direction from the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee. The sector determined that in the new school year, it will continue to effectively implement Resolution No. 29-NQ/TW dated November 4, 2013 of the Party Central Committee on fundamental and comprehensive innovation of education and training, meeting the requirements of industrialization and modernization in the context of a socialist-oriented market economy and international integration. In addition, continuing to successfully implement the 2018 General Education Program is a very important task.

The sector will continue to strengthen career orientation and student orientation after secondary school in a practical and effective manner. Focus on building a truly clean and healthy school culture and pedagogical environment.

To achieve sustainable education quality, the education and training sector will continue to focus on building and developing a team of teachers and educational administrators that is sufficient in quantity and strong in quality, meeting the requirements of innovation, while reviewing and arranging a reasonable network of schools. Accelerating the progress of investment in facilities, building national standard schools, ensuring the best conditions for teaching and learning.

One of the requirements for the education sector and teachers is to promote comprehensive innovation in educational methods. How will the sector implement this task in the new school year, sir?

- Innovating teaching and learning methods, focusing on learners is a very important requirement for the education and training sector, thereby improving the quality of teaching and learning, and the quality of human resources in a sustainable way. To innovate teaching and learning methods, the sector determines that it must innovate from the teaching staff itself, strongly invest in the school system associated with the current trend of comprehensive and substantial digital transformation in education. Maximize the effectiveness of industry databases, management software, and digital learning materials warehouses. Equip both teachers and students with digital skills, turn technology into a powerful tool to innovate teaching and learning methods, and improve the quality of education.

This is the second school year of the 2018 General Education Program, covering grades 1 to 12. What directions and guidance will the industry have to further improve the quality of implementing this program?

- To continue to effectively implement the 2018 General Education Program, it is necessary to strengthen innovation in teaching methods. In the past time, along with the arrangement of the school system and the teaching staff, the Department of Education and Training has organized many training sessions and in-depth training for each subject and each level; at the same time, implementing regular training modules to help teachers grasp new perspectives, teaching methods and assessment.

Entering this school year, the work of training teachers will continue to receive special attention from the department with a number of key orientations.

The new school year 2025-2026 is the first school year after the province's merger, and is also the first year to implement the Resolution of the Provincial Party Congress for the 2025-2030 term and also the first year to implement the Resolution of the Provincial People's Council on socio-economic development for 5 years (2026-2030). The Department of Education and Training of Dong Nai province determined the theme of the 2025-2026 school year as "Discipline - Creativity - Breakthrough - Development", determined to successfully carry out the tasks of the school year.

Can you share more specifically what these key directions are?

- The key issues that we have identified to further improve the effectiveness of the 2018 General Education Program are: Continuing to provide regular, continuous, on-site training, linked to the practical needs of each teacher and each educational institution. Organizing training courses by topic, focusing on innovating teaching methods to develop students' capacity and qualities. The sector will also focus on innovating testing and assessment in the direction of capacity development; applying digital technology in teaching. Enhancing the role of professional activities in professional groups and school clusters, considering this the most regular and practical training channel for teachers. Coordinating with pedagogical universities and experts to support, provide professional advice, and promptly update new issues.

Principal of Nguyen An Ninh Primary School (Tam Hiep Ward) Hoang Thi Ngoc met first graders on the first day of school.

With the increasingly rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), digital transformation in all fields, the education and training sector is no exception. So what should Dong Nai's education sector do to catch up with this general trend, sir?

- To effectively implement the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and strong digital transformation in the industry, this new school year, the education and training sector continues to deploy a number of solutions. Specifically, raising awareness and digital skills through training for teachers and managers on the use of digital platforms and AI applications to support teaching and learning. Training students in digital citizenship skills by guiding them on how to safely exploit the internet, how to search and select information, and how to protect personal data.

Continue to improve the technology infrastructure through equipping smart teaching devices (tablets, interactive boards, etc.); at the same time, coordinate with related sectors to build and integrate AI functions in school management software as well as have solutions to ensure the safety and security of personal data of students and teachers. Have a mechanism to reward teachers and students who are creative in applying digital technology and AI.

Recently, the Politburo issued Notice No. 81-TB/TW on investment in building schools for border communes. The implementation requirement for provinces and cities is very urgent, so how far has the Dong Nai Department of Education and Training implemented it, sir?

- Under the leadership and direction of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Education and Training presided over the review of the system of 30 schools in 8 border communes; at the same time, developed a Project for Comprehensive Development of Teaching and Learning Quality in Border Communes in Dong Nai Province to get opinions from relevant localities and departments and branches. Through the review in 8 border communes, 29 schools registered to build boarding schools and 1 school organized boarding schools in the form of socialization.

Sir, in the 2025-2026 school year, the scale of Dong Nai Education and Training sector will also be larger in all aspects. So what are the difficulties of the sector and how to solve them?

- After the merger, the education and training sector of Dong Nai province has many advantages, but also many difficulties. For example, in preschool education, the application of information technology in teaching and the digital capacity of some teachers are still limited, especially in schools in remote and isolated areas. The network of schools and classes is not uniform among localities, some communes in remote and isolated areas, and densely populated areas develop rapidly, causing pressure on child mobilization and class sizes exceeding regulations.

Regarding general education, some urban areas, many industrial zones with large mechanical population growth, pressure on student numbers and school needs lead to a shortage of teachers, classrooms and subject rooms, especially at the primary level. Facilities and teaching equipment to serve the implementation of program innovation are still quite lacking, especially in schools in remote areas, ethnic minority areas. Many primary schools do not have enough classrooms to organize 2-session teaching, some schools have small classrooms, the number of desks and chairs is enough to meet the needs of studying cultural subjects, but not enough and not suitable for group teaching and teaching practical lessons.

From the above difficulties, the Department of Education and Training will continue to review the whole situation, advise the province to continue to invest strongly, and gradually overcome them to improve the quality of comprehensive education associated with the quality of human resources.

Thank you!

Cong Nghia (performed)

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/202509/pho-giam-doc-so-giao-duc-va-dao-tao-pham-hong-thang-quyet-tam-thuc-hien-thang-loi-nam-hocdau-tien-sau-sap-nhap-tinh-d952c16/