Responding in writing to Minister Nguyen Kim Son, delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy commented: "Official dispatch No. 2706 of the minister responding to me this time did not mention the main issues that I raised" and specifically stated each issue that she found the response to be unsatisfactory.

Regarding the ministry's responsibility for the criminal violations at the Vietnam Education Publishing House (VEP), Ms. Thuy said: "Official dispatch No. 2706 devotes 18 lines to explaining but there is absolutely no sentence stating how the governing body (ie the Ministry of Education and Training) is responsible for "incorrectly appointing leadership personnel and lacking in close inspection and supervision" as in my opinion."

Regarding transparency in textbook selection, Ms. Thuy stated in a document sent to the Minister of Education and Training: "Regarding Circular No. 25/2020/TT-BGDDT dated August 26, 2020 of the Ministry of Education and Training guiding the selection of textbooks according to the provisions of the Law on Education, in my comments on June 1, I pointed out the shortcomings of this Circular: "Giving the right to vote to decide on the selection of textbooks for each subject to a council of 15 people; there is no regulation that when a textbook is selected by educational institutions with a certain percentage, the council is responsible for selecting that book".

In Official Dispatch No. 2706, the Minister mentioned some of the ministry's actions such as sending official dispatches reminding localities to strictly implement Circular No. 25 and sending 8 inspection teams to some localities. However, unfortunately, the official dispatch still does not explain the rationality of the regulation at Point b, Clause 4, Article 8 of the above Circular: "The Council votes by secret ballot to select one or several textbooks for each subject".

According to Ms. Thuy, this regulation will lead to two consequences. The first consequence is the contradiction between the provisions in the circular: according to the provisions in clauses 1, 2 and 3, article 8, general education institutions must organize a very elaborate selection, "professional groups organize for teachers to research, evaluate and vote by secret ballot to select textbooks; general education institutions organize meetings with the participants including the head, deputy head, head of the professional group and representative of the parents' representative board to discuss and evaluate textbooks based on the list of textbooks proposed by the professional groups; select one textbook for each subject".

However, the entire result of the elaborate selection of groups and individuals directly using textbooks can very well be rejected by a council of only 15 people. The reason for rejection can be simply that if the whole province (the whole city) uses one textbook for one subject, it will be more convenient for the directing agency. This means that all the regulations in clauses 1, 2 and 3 are invalidated by clause 4.

The second consequence, according to Ms. Thuy, is the consequence in practice: "According to some public opinions, currently, because there are many publishers participating in compiling and publishing textbooks, there has been an unhealthy competition with many sophisticated tricks (publishers invest in the Department of Education and Training to benefit from publishing their books; compete on publishing discount rates; unfairly lobby some localities and education management officials in designating textbook purchases; instructing local textbook publishing companies not to publish textbooks of other publishers...).

This should have been anticipated by the Ministry of Education and Training because it was not difficult to predict. The regulation in Clause 4, Article 8, giving full authority to the textbook selection council has created conditions for council members to only exercise their rights without having to take responsibility due to the secret ballot mechanism."

According to Ms. Thuy: "This legal loophole is easily exploited, serving group interests, neutralizing grassroots democracy, and damaging the rights of teachers and students. When the situation of selecting textbooks without objectivity is widespread, the selection of textbooks will return to the mechanism of having only one set of textbooks for one subject in the locality, which means eliminating the policy of "one program - many textbooks" of the Party and State".

Specific address "I will keep to protect the source"

Regarding the request of the Minister of Education and Training to delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy to "provide information and evidence of violations to the Ministry of Education and Training for handling according to regulations", delegate Thuy said: "The specific addresses of education managers and teachers who reported to me the lack of democracy and objectivity in textbook selection, I would like to keep to protect the source of information but will provide it to law enforcement agencies when necessary".

Ms. Thuy also requested the Ministry of Education and Training to soon amend Article 8 of Circular 25 in the direction of respecting the right to choose textbooks of the collective and individuals directly using the textbooks. The Textbook Selection Council only checks to confirm that the textbooks selected by the general education institution are textbooks approved for use by the Ministry of Education and Training, and reports to the Provincial People's Committee for decision.

"In case textbooks are selected by less than 10% of general education institutions, the council recommends that the Department of Education and Training notify those general education institutions of the textbook selection rate of other general education institutions in the whole province (city) to have a basis for research and re-selection, if necessary...", Ms. Thuy stated.

Ms. Thuy also suggested: "The Ministry of Education and Training also needs to add to Circular 25 regulations on requirements for democracy, publicity, and transparency in selecting textbooks; how to handle different opinions between proposals from general education institutions and local textbook selection councils.

Provincial People's Committees need to pay attention to directing the selection of textbooks in localities to have the right orientation and selection mechanism; in particular, it is necessary to closely direct the selection of members of the textbook selection council and the council's operating regulations; and strictly handle negative phenomena.

The company does not have a firm grasp of its market development costs as well as the Ministry of Education and Training?

Regarding the costs of Phuong Nam Company (NXBGDVN) for market development and training, the Minister of Education and Training explained that the market development costs of this company in 2020 were 29.7 billion VND, and in 2021 were 24.2 billion VND.

However, according to delegate Thuy, in the explanatory note to the financial report of Phuong Nam Company, it was affirmed that in the first 9 months of 2020, the company spent more than 42 billion VND; in the first 9 months of 2021, the company spent more than 53.7 billion VND on market development and training. "Thus, can it be understood that Phuong Nam Company reported incorrectly or the company itself did not have a firm grasp of its costs as well as the Ministry of Education and Training?", Ms. Thuy raised the issue.