Textbook Spam: Unforeseeable Consequences

Textbooks are always hot topics that receive a lot of public attention. Taking advantage of this, combined with the ease and speed of information spreading on social platforms, makes it difficult for people to verify the accuracy of the "huge" amount of content.

Parents are confused, there is no way to verify

Having a child studying in grade 4 at a primary school in Dong Da district, Hanoi, Ms. Dao Tran Linh is really confused by the recent news: “Every few days, I see posts on Facebook with the content of this folk song or that poem that is not suitable for the textbooks that students are studying.

I myself study with my child every day and do not see those documents, but because there are many different sets of textbooks nowadays, it is quite difficult for an ordinary parent to verify them."

The parent also expressed that he could only judge the content of those articles, and with thousands of accompanying comments, it was not easy to distinguish.

Parents and students are easily exposed to thousands of fake information.

Also quite concerned about the above situation, Ms. Ngoc My (Ba Dinh, Hanoi) said: "I have looked through that information but because I don't have much time, it is difficult to research and analyze whether the content is correct or not. My child has studied in secondary school, mostly self-studying along with studying a different program from his parents' time, so it is very difficult to verify whether my child has been exposed to those documents or not."

Ms. My also shared that because it is a new way of teaching, even the works in the textbooks are completely new, so it is not simple for most parents to be able to easily analyze them like familiar essays and poems like before. This is also one of the reasons why when there is incorrect content on social networks, it is difficult for them to distinguish accurately.

Significant consequences for teaching and learning activities

Regarding this issue, speaking with Nguoi Dua Tin, Mr. Tran Manh Tung - Math teacher in Hanoi said that because education is related to every family, therefore, educational issues are always of interest to everyone and are dissected, which is understandable, including the issue of textbooks.

“For a long time, textbooks were considered the law, and when there was a dispute, people used textbooks as the standard. Therefore, people demanded that textbooks be exemplary and complete.

When some unverified information about current textbooks is posted on the internet to criticize and make rude comments, along with the crowd effect and the rapid spread of the internet, it has caused many negative impacts on the education sector in general as well as the teaching and learning of teachers and students," Mr. Tran Manh Tung expressed.

Mr. Tran Manh Tung - Math teacher in Hanoi.

According to Mr. Tung, the consequences of these incidents are not small because such information affects the psychology of students (who have low resistance to this type of rumor), making them confused and distrustful of the content and curriculum.

It also affects teaching and learning activities in schools, affecting teachers. In particular, it will also create pressure on the team of textbook authors, on the appraisal council when suddenly many people condemn and convict.

Besides, such inaccurate information also makes society lose faith in textbooks and education.

Mr. Tran Manh Tung added: "The Ministry of Education and Training has spoken out early and requested the authorities to intervene, prevent, investigate, clarify and strictly handle these acts of spreading false information, which is necessary and appropriate.

However, I also hope that the media needs to consider when reporting news, need to carefully understand the origin and influence of information, even condemn acts of stereotyping and arbitrary reporting to contribute to cleaning up the online environment, joining hands with the education sector."

In addition, people and parents also need to accompany education, all for the common goal of improving the quality of teaching and learning.

“Information needs to be verified, assessments need to be based on reality, impartial and constructive. The spread of false information, in addition to adults having to take responsibility, the consequences for children are not small,” Mr. Tung assessed.

Many textbooks have been filled with false information.

Works included in textbooks must meet three criteria.

With many years of experience in creative activities, Associate Professor, Doctor, Distinguished Teacher Nguyen Duc Hanh believes that there needs to be more "strong" measures against fake news.

"Currently there is some bad, fake information that accuses textbooks of having inappropriate lessons," said Mr. Hanh.

According to Mr. Hanh, the possible explanation for this problem is that there are bad people spreading rumors that cruelly tarnish the image of the country's education, causing gullible people to quickly "grab" unverified information and spread it.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Hanh expressed: “ Social networks today still have a strong mob mentality, many people contribute opinions but do not verify. This needs to be strictly handled according to the provisions of the law, to avoid the phenomenon of lawlessness that is still happening, this needs to be resolved soon.”

Mr. Nguyen Duc Hanh (left) said that it is necessary to carefully select works in textbooks.

However, on the contrary, from a professional perspective, Mr. Hanh also believes that many opinions from society and teachers need to be accepted and revised. In fact, errors in spelling and grammar have been corrected by textbook authors, who are open to correct comments from the public and the media. However, there are still works selected for inclusion in textbooks that have caused much controversy over the minimum principles for selecting works for inclusion in books, such as the poem "Bullying" by author Nguyen The Hoang Linh recently.

Experts have proposed three evaluation criteria. Accordingly, the selected texts must be works that have become classics and are no longer controversial. " We should not include works that are too new or controversial, this will affect students, should we include the debate section for them to learn?" - Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Duc Hanh shared.

Second, the works must have high educational meaning for students, along with that meaning must be a suitable form, with clarity, fun, innocence, and beauty. Finally, it is important to note that the poems must also be suitable for the psychology and level of reception of students. " There should not be works that even adults cannot understand, even for a professional like me it takes months to evaluate the content, so it is difficult for students to perceive ", the expert expressed.

On October 18, the Ministry of Education and Training sent a dispatch to the Ministry of Information and Communications requesting to handle individuals and organizations that provide false information about general education textbooks.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, in recent days, many social networking sites have spread information about some content that is considered to be linguistic material in textbooks such as: Pounding rice to cook rice, Splashing, Brave An, Baby carrying to support mother, Drawing what is difficult... leading to many negative comments about textbooks, textbook writers and the education sector.

The Ministry of Education and Training affirms that the above content is not included in any current textbooks being used in schools.

PV

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/tin-rac-ve-sach-giao-khoa-he-qua-khon-luong-post269298.html