School violence and teacher shortage issues continue to heat up the National Assembly

On the morning of November 8, the question and answer session of the 6th session of the 15th National Assembly continued. The issues of school violence and teacher shortage continued to "heat up" the National Assembly's floor.

Delegate Nguyen Thi Xuan, National Assembly Delegation of Dak Lak province, discussed with the Minister of Education and Training (MOET) about the issue of school violence. The delegate expressed agreement with the Minister's response on this content, related to the numbers of school violence and the causes. However, the delegate also shared that on average, each school year, the whole country has more than 1,500 cases of school violence inside and outside of school; for every 5,200 students, there is 1 student who fights.

The delegate suggested that this issue requires the participation of the entire political system, organizations, including the Youth Union, Women's Union and is the responsibility of the whole society and each family to contribute to ending school violence. Delegate Nguyen Thi Xuan suggested that the Government should pay more attention to this issue.

Delegate To Van Tam, National Assembly Delegation of Kon Tum province, debated with the Minister of Education and Training about the role of schools and society in preventing school violence.

Delegate Nguyen Thi Xuan, National Assembly Delegation of Dak Lak province, questioned the Minister of Education and Training about school violence. Photo: Doan Tan/VNA

Delegate To Van Tam observed that although school violence is an issue that we have made many efforts to address, it still occurs with increasingly complex nature.

Sharing with the Minister of Education and Training about the objective issues in education, training, and fostering school ethics, delegate To Van Tam said that in the current context, traditional cultural values are being competed, while new values are being formed and are unclear and unconfirmed. Therefore, delegate To Van Tam said that this problem is not only of the education sector but also of the cultural sector. The cultural sector needs to have solutions to maintain and promote traditional cultural and ethical values, and at the same time, orient, promote, and form new cultural values and what those solutions are.

Delegate Leo Thi Lich, National Assembly Delegation of Bac Giang province questioned the Minister of Education and Training and the Deputy Prime Minister. The delegate said that currently the whole country is still short of 118,253 teachers at all levels, if the number of civil servants continues to be reduced by 10% according to the answer of the Minister of Home Affairs in the questioning session on November 7.

However, for remote and isolated areas that do not have the conditions to implement autonomy, the shortage of teachers is even more serious. Delegates asked the Minister to provide any solutions to solve this situation in the coming time?

Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son answered questions on the morning of November 8. Photo: Doan Tan/VNA

Responding to the issue of school violence, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that this is a correct opinion and will be seriously accepted.

Regarding solutions to handle and prevent school violence, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that in the coming time, the Ministry will increase life skills training for students when there is a risk of violence against themselves...

In addition, the Ministry of Education and Training will also strengthen training skills for teachers in charge of this issue; add positions of specialized school psychological counselors in educational institutions; increase the development of positive recreational and entertainment activities, contributing to limiting and reducing the possibility of violence and negative issues arising... At the same time, promote coordination between families, schools and society in protecting children from school violence.

In particular, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son emphasized that the important step to create the foundation to solve this problem is to effectively implement the 2018 General Education Program with the goal of developing people and improving the moral character of Vietnamese people...

Previously, on the afternoon of November 7, delegate Vuong Quoc Thang (National Assembly Delegation of Quang Nam province) stated that in Report No. 508 dated October 3, 2023 sent by the Government to National Assembly delegates assessing the implementation of National Assembly resolutions on the field of education and training, on page 54, there was a self-assessment of the complicated situation of school violence. "So according to the Minister, what are the causes of this situation and what is the Ministry's fundamental solution in the coming time?", delegate Thang asked.

Responding to questions about school violence, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that according to statistics, from September 1, 2021 to November 5, 2023, there were 699 cases of school violence nationwide, involving more than 2,016 students, including 854 female students, an average of 1 case of school violence for every 50 educational institutions.

According to Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son, there are many causes of school violence. Schools are responsible for detecting and handling violent situations, but teachers and principals are still confused about handling skills when detecting incidents. In addition, due to the prolonged pandemic, students study online for a long time, leading to psychological problems. The psychology of adulthood is also a factor contributing to this situation.

Another reason, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son cited statistics from the Supreme People's Court that there are 220,000 divorce cases every year, of which 70-80% are related to domestic violence. Students in these families can witness domestic violence, and be abused and abandoned. Such an environment leads to a very high rate of students involved in school violence. Preventing domestic violence, according to the Minister, is therefore very important.

In addition, social networks and movies related to collective violence are also the causes of school violence. The Minister of Education and Training hopes that relevant sectors will coordinate to solve this problem.

Regarding the lack of teachers, in response to delegate Leo Thi Lich, the Minister said that to solve this problem, there needs to be a synchronous solution. The lack of teachers often occurs in preschool and primary schools, in remote areas, ethnic minority areas, and mountainous areas. The Minister said that although in the past 5 years, we have arranged and consolidated many schools, however, this school consolidation work needs to continue in many areas.

Regarding the 10% reduction in staffing, through discussions with the provinces, especially the Northwestern and Central Highlands provinces, the Minister suggested that this rate should not be set in a leveling, mechanical, and similar way in all localities. Accordingly, for places with a larger proportion of education staff, this reduction should be considered to ensure enough teachers. For areas with better economic conditions and better socialization capabilities, there should be solutions to share with mountainous and disadvantaged provinces. In addition, there should be solutions regarding recruitment sources, preparation of recruitment sources, and input, so that when mountainous provinces and disadvantaged ethnic minority areas conduct recruitment, there will be a ready source of applicants.

According to VNA/Tin Tuc Newspaper

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