Socialization breaks the monopoly of the public school system

The period 1986 - 2000 was a turbulent historical period, witnessing the strong transformation of the country and of Vietnamese education. From the crisis, the renovation process led by the Party helped the country overcome difficulties, recover and develop rapidly, creating the foundation for development in the new century.

C STANDARDIZING THE 12-YEAR GENERAL EDUCATION SYSTEM

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, in the period 1986 - 2000, the Vietnamese education system achieved fundamental achievements with the promulgation of important legal documents such as the Law on Universal Primary Education (1991) and the peak of which was the Education Law (1998), transforming education from operating based on directives to operating within a stable and transparent legal framework.

The education system was strongly restructured, from unifying the management apparatus (establishing the Ministry of Education and Training), standardizing the 12-year general education system, to forming a connecting structure from preschool to post-graduate level.

Through national target programs such as "school consolidation", tens of thousands of temporary classrooms have been replaced with solid structures, contributing to significantly improving teaching and learning conditions, especially in disadvantaged areas.

Teachers and students of Marie Curie School ( Hanoi ) participated in activities to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Vietnam's National Day. This is one of the first private schools in the North to implement the policy of diversifying training forms and mobilizing social resources.

PHOTO: MC

The number of teachers has increased sharply to meet the needs of expansion. Quality has been gradually improved through standardized programs, and teachers' lives have gradually improved thanks to new policies. The socialization policy has broken the monopoly of the public school system, allowing private, semi-public, and private schools to emerge and develop. This has mobilized enormous social resources and created a more dynamic and diverse educational environment. On the other hand, training methods have also been expanded in a flexible direction, meeting the needs of human resources such as distance learning...

This is also the period that records the initial innovation of educational content, programs and methods: the industry has made initial changes in innovating the program in the direction of "basic, modern, practical", applying active teaching methods, focusing on students.

Promoting international cooperation in education also started from this period. In the context of the country opening up, the education sector has proactively expanded cooperation with international organizations (WB, UNESCO, UNICEF...), attracting important financial and technical resources for development.

M ON THE ROAD FOR NON-PUBLISHED SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, in the context of the country falling into a serious economic, social and political crisis and the decline of the socialist system in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the 6th National Congress of the Party (December 1986) initiated a renovation policy, a turning point in development thinking with the shift from a centrally planned economic model to a socialist-oriented market economy.

Regarding education, the Congress pointed out weaknesses and set out the requirement to renew thinking, considering education an inseparable part of the general innovation cause. The Congress also determined the motto "The State and the people work together", paving the way for the socialization of education. Next, Resolution 6 of the 6th Central Committee (1989) proposed the policy of diversifying training forms and mobilizing social resources, expanding non-public school types. The educational financial mechanism gradually shifted from "full state subsidy" to a model of mobilizing many sources, allowing tuition fees.

Ho Chi Minh City National University, one of two national universities established during the period when the national education system was restructured, unified with the establishment of major universities.

PHOTO: VNU-HCM

In fact, the whole country now has tens of thousands of private educational institutions at all levels, but more than 30 years ago, this model was completely new.

Teacher Nguyen Xuan Khang, Chairman of the Marie Curie School Board, one of the two pioneering teachers to open a private school in the North, recalled: In 1988, when the Party's viewpoint and policy encouraged the development of the private economy, during a lunch with Mr. Van Nhu Cuong and some other colleagues, the teachers happily asked each other: "Why don't you ask for permission to establish a private school because this will help create competition and many different advantages in education?" Then Mr. Cuong wrote a letter, Mr. Khang read it, and the two co-signed it and sent it to Minister (at that time the Ministry of Education) Pham Minh Hac to request the establishment of a private school.

Beyond expectations, Minister Pham Minh Hac responded immediately, saying that he welcomed and asked the two teachers to write the proposal. With more than 10 years of teaching high school, having some experience, Mr. Khang agreed to write the proposal to open a school. Less than a week later, the draft was published. The Ministry of Education immediately organized a meeting to listen to and "question" the proposal. However, because this was unprecedented, the Ministry of Education also did not have regulations on private schools, so the locality did not know how to manage this type of school. Upon receiving the response letter signed by the Vice Chairwoman of the Hanoi People's Committee at that time, Ms. Tran Thi Tam Dan, Deputy Minister of Education Nghiem Chuong Chau immediately directed the drafting of temporary regulations on private schools. As the researcher and drafter of the proposal, Mr. Khang was also invited to consult during the drafting of this regulation.

In March 1989, the Ministry issued a temporary regulation. On June 1, 1989, Luong The Vinh School, the first private school in the North, was established. It was the "stick" for not only Hanoi but also the whole country to establish and manage private schools. By the early 1990s, there were dozens of schools of this type established nationwide.

As someone who studied in a specialized class and then taught a specialized class, Mr. Khang always cherished the dream of opening a private school for gifted students to gather excellent students. To realize that dream, he once again "locked himself up" for 3 days to start working on the project of Marie Curie Private High School for Gifted Students.

Currently, the whole country has tens of thousands of private educational institutions at all levels, but more than 30 years ago, this model was extremely new.

Photo: Ngoc Thang

On August 29, 1992, the Hanoi People's Committee issued a decision to allow the establishment of Marie Curie Private Secondary and High School, the first school with semi-boarding, boarding, and shuttle buses, attracting excellent students not only in Hanoi but also in the provinces.

Teacher Nguyen Xuan Khang always believes: In education, when the private sector develops and attracts more children from well-off families, the burden on the education budget will decrease, and the state will have the conditions to take better care of the public system.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, in the period of 1986 - 2000, along with the country's renovation, the education sector has made efforts to overcome the crisis, recover and develop, and achieve great achievements. Despite limitations and difficulties, the achievements in expanding scale, perfecting institutions, promoting socialization, diversifying types, and international integration have created a solid foundation for the Vietnamese education sector to continue to carry out more comprehensive reforms in the 21st century.

Crisis period 1986 - 1991: In the context of the country's general crisis, education fell into a serious recession. The scale of education decreased with the dropout rate at all levels increasing. The teaching staff was in crisis due to difficult living conditions, leading to a wave of resignations.

Recovery period 1991 - 1996: Thanks to economic recovery and clear innovation orientation, the education sector gradually emerged from the crisis. The primary education universalization program was widely implemented, helping to significantly reduce the dropout rate. The national education system was restructured and unified with the establishment of major universities (national universities, regional universities) and the network of non-public schools began to develop.

Stability and development period 1996 - 2000: Education shifted its focus from solving fundamental problems to improving the quality of human resources, serving industrialization and modernization. The number of students grew strongly, especially at the university level.

(Source: Ministry of Education and Training)

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/xa-hoi-hoa-pha-vo-the-doc-quyen-he-thong-truong-cong-185250830185658757.htm