Proposal to have a set of shared textbooks, gradually free for students

The proposal was made by Chairman of the Committee for Culture and Society Nguyen Dac Vinh in the report examining the draft law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Education, which was commented on by the National Assembly Standing Committee on the morning of August 13.

Along with the shared textbooks, according to Mr. Vinh, the Standing Committee of the Culture and Society Committee proposed that the Ministry of Education and Training study the step-by-step provision of free textbooks for students.

PHOTO: PHAM THANG

Regarding textbooks, in the Government's submission, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that the draft law is only amended to clearly distinguish between "textbooks" and "local educational materials", overcoming practical difficulties in pricing textbooks according to the provisions of the Price Law.

At the same time, the draft law also decentralizes authority from the provincial People's Committee to the Department of Education and Training. The director of the Department of Education and Training decides on the selection of textbooks for stable use in general education institutions in the area; at the same time, organizes the compilation of local educational materials.

The draft law also stipulates that the provincial appraisal council appraises and the provincial People's Committee approves local educational documents in organizing the implementation of the general education program.

The Minister of Education and Training prescribes the provincial-level local educational materials appraisal council and technical standards for local educational materials.

Regarding this content, Mr. Nguyen Dac Vinh said that the Standing Committee agreed with the proposals in the draft.

Commenting on this issue, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh emphasized that according to Resolution 88 on the general education program, there must be a set of general education textbooks compiled by the Ministry of Education and Training. In addition, there must be many other sets of textbooks to properly implement the policy of one program, many sets of textbooks.

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"The National Assembly has also supervised this issue. The Ministry of Education and Training has also promised and is implementing it, so it will continue to implement it urgently," Mr. Dinh stated and suggested amending the law appropriately to institutionalize Resolution 29. " The Central Committee decides whether a program has many sets of books. When teaching, the selection of which set of books is also very specific. But every country has a set of books from the State," Mr. Dinh added.

High school graduation exam: To abolish or not?

Regarding the high school graduation exam, Chairman of the Committee for Culture and Society Nguyen Dac Vinh said that the current Education Law stipulates that students who have completed the high school program and meet the requirements set by the Minister of Education and Training are eligible to take the exam. Those who meet the requirements will be awarded a high school graduation certificate by the head of the specialized education agency under the provincial People's Committee.

On this issue, there are two types of opinions in the standing committee of the examination agency. The first type of opinion suggests that the high school graduation exam should still be held and that organizing the exam to grant high school graduation certificates is necessary to assess the level of general education standards of students, provide national data for research, development, and adjustment of education policies, and serve as a source of reference information for universities and vocational training institutions to organize enrollment.

This exam also serves to grant a high school diploma or a certificate of completion of general education for the purpose of articulation and integration into the international education system.

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However, this opinion suggests that it is necessary to design regulations in the law in the direction of assigning the authority to set the exam questions for the high school graduation exam to the Minister of Education and Training. At the same time, assigning localities to organize the exam to ensure seriousness and quality because this is a national exam to analyze the score distribution, evaluate the quality of students and the quality of educational institutions.

These opinions also suggest studying the separation of the high school graduation exam from university admissions.

The second type of opinion suggests not organizing exams but instead considering high school graduation to be suitable with the goals and nature of this level of education; compatible with the trend of innovation in process-based assessment; reducing pressure and costs due to exams. Admissions to secondary schools, colleges, and universities should be assigned to higher education and vocational education institutions to organize admissions.

Regarding this issue, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh agreed with the plan to continue organizing the high school graduation exam. However, Mr. Dinh did not agree with the proposal to study separating the high school graduation exam from university admissions.

"Currently, the general exam is the general exam, university admission is the autonomy of the schools. Universities using graduation results for admission is the school's business, it is not mandatory. Some schools still have separate exams, some schools have additional aptitude exams... So using the word "separate" is not correct," said Mr. Dinh, who believes that if the regulation is separated, when universities want to use high school graduation exam results for admission, they will not be able to, and will have to organize a new one, which could be more costly for society.