The 2018 General Education Program will be completed in a few months at grade 12, in a context where each subject has one or several textbooks.
At the beginning of every school year, parents have to scramble to find suitable textbooks according to the school's requirements. This makes parents feel complicated and confused.
photo: peach jade
There was a time when choosing textbooks was the job of parents and students.
In the 70s of the last century, our generation Study a program, each subject has a number of textbooks , but English is "unique" English for today. For math books, I bought books by author Nguyen Van Phu; for physics and chemistry, I bought books compiled by the Board of Professors of Thi School; for biology books, the author was Mr. Nguyen Quang Nghia (compiled by the same group of teachers) and he gave them to me because my house was next to his house, so I studied according to those books...
At that time, choosing which books to buy was up to parents and students; schools or teachers absolutely did not influence students to choose this book or that book... Schools did not mess around with textbooks, teachers and students taught well - studied well. "Second and third generations under one roof" used the same textbooks.
The shortcomings of implementing many textbooks today
Currently, according to the 2018 General Education Program, which has been applied for the past 5 years, in general schools, each subject has several textbooks. This is a progressive policy. Textbooks used in schools are selected according to the process and final decision of the People's Committee of the province/city directly under the Central Government. The Ministry of Education and Training emphasizes that textbooks is one of the learning resources. That means learners and teachers can use other (official) learning resources, besides textbooks.
Section a, Article 32 of the Law on Education stipulates: "Textbooks implement the general education program, specify the requirements of the education program regarding educational goals, content, requirements on students' qualities and abilities; provide guidance on teaching methods and ways to test and evaluate educational quality...".
Teaching 3 blocks of grades 10, 11, 12 according to the new program, I consider these books as reference materials. Some books are good in one aspect, but have problems in another, leading to the same subject in grade 10, the school chooses books compiled by group A of authors, and in grade 11, chooses books compiled by group B of authors. This leads to the fact that people are upset that I cannot use the textbooks you left behind, causing waste.
In recent years, although textbook compilation has been socialized , distribution has been... "subsidized". At the beginning of each school year, parents run around looking to buy textbooks for their children according to the school's selection requirements.
Another concern of parents is that with so many textbooks, what kind of test questions can students take no matter which book they study?
For example, in the reference physics exam for high school graduation from 2025, question 2 asks: "Which of the following signs warns of radioactive substances?". Some people say that this question belongs to the 10th grade program. However, the 10th grade physics textbook of Canh Dieu does not introduce warning signs of areas with radioactive substances. Not to mention that there are still many "errors" scattered in the new textbooks. The price of the new textbooks is quite high because of the "large size and beautiful paper", causing public anger and suspicion.
Textbooks are always a concern for parents and students with a range of emotions.
Photo: Dao Ngoc Thach
Needs a lot of adjustment
Although the regulations require teachers to teach with the aim of developing students’ qualities and abilities, the overall reality is still teaching students to take exams. Therefore, the content of textbooks must meet the requirements of the high school graduation exam from 2025.
While teachers' teaching and organizing abilities are uneven, students' self-study skills are still immature, school management does not meet the requirements of the 2018 General Education Program, and unwanted impacts from family and society on schools cause negative effects, textbooks must be the fulcrum of teaching and learning.
In addition to the textbooks compiled by individuals and organizations, many teachers and parents have requested the Ministry of Education and Training to have its own textbooks. If we think that with the government’s textbooks, who else can compete, then we are not thorough.
Teachers must be regularly trained in the subject program. Once teachers have a firm grasp of and know how to apply the subject program, they will be able to find appropriate learning resources for their students.
Currently, many teachers are still vague about the subject curriculum, so they cannot escape the spiral of "chosen" textbooks. Lesson preparation, teaching, and testing all follow textbooks. That inertia gradually creates resistance to innovation in teaching methods. Teachers follow textbooks, students have to buy them, leading to a shortage of textbooks and many other consequences.
In addition, choosing textbooks as currently regulated is not necessary. Teachers, parents, and students should be proactive in choosing appropriate textbooks according to their learning purposes and budget so that the books can be used for many years for their siblings, friends, etc. in the next courses. Teachers and students who are allowed to choose textbooks will influence publishers that if they want to compete, they must improve the quality of textbook content.
In addition, school libraries need to be equipped with textbooks compiled by author groups for teachers and students to read and borrow when needed.
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