Press accompanies education sector

Criticism to build and perfect policies

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Xuan Nhi - former Deputy Minister of Education and Training, acknowledged that in recent times, the press has not only reflected current news following events in the education sector such as opening ceremonies, high school graduation exams, 10th grade entrance exams, and early enrollment, but has also focused on propagating policies and guidelines for educational innovation, attracting special attention from the public.

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Communicate policy early, remotely
To improve policy quality and create social consensus, it is important to communicate policies early and from a distance. That is, communicate from the time of drafting the policy, mobilize social resources to participate in the drafting process.

“Policy communication is not only an illustration of policy but also a criticism to build and perfect policies. A series of important decisions of the Government, ministries, including the Ministry of Education and Training, have had significant contributions from press and media agencies since the drafts were being developed,” said Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Xuan Nhi.

Most recently, at the discussion to gather opinions from press agencies on the draft Law on Teachers organized by the Ministry of Education and Training, teachers' salaries and professional certificates for teachers were the two issues that received the most attention from reporters and journalists. Previously, this topic was also exploited by press agencies with diverse perspectives through real-life situations and statistics from functional agencies on the number of teachers who have quit their jobs recently. This story is not new as for many years, concerns about the treatment, salary, and allowances for teachers have not been commensurate, making it difficult for teachers to devote themselves to teaching and improving their knowledge and skills to serve the development of their work. Many teachers even quit their jobs because of low salaries, had to find other jobs, and the teaching profession became less attractive to talented people.

The Law on Teachers, which is being developed by the Ministry of Education and Training, is expected to contribute to improving the status of teachers in today's society. However, from now until the draft Law on Teachers is commented on by the National Assembly at the 8th session (October 2024) and approved at the 9th session (May 2025), there is still much work to be done. In particular, the press continues to be considered a strong propaganda channel, an active forum for exchange, recording comments and criticisms from the people, experts, educators, etc.

Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Administrators (Ministry of Education and Training) Vu Minh Duc said that from now until then, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Drafting Committee will continue to collect public opinions through various channels and forms, in which the participation of the press and media channels is indispensable. The Director also emphasized that special attention will be paid to collecting opinions from all teachers - the subjects directly affected by the draft Law.

To communicate correctly and accurately

In the current flow of information, the press not only accompanies the education sector in informing all classes of people about new policies and guidelines, but also contributes to setting examples and discovering typical and advanced teachers, students and pupils in the field of education. At the same time, it also focuses on reflecting and discovering negative incidents... Acknowledging the support and companionship from press and media agencies, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son affirmed: The press in recent times has made an important contribution to helping the policies and guidelines of the education sector come into life, bringing good values to students, parents and the whole society.

Many press works have deeply analyzed "hot" issues of the education sector; recorded the actual implementation or social criticism of the sector's policies and decisions; recorded the thoughts and aspirations of parents and students.

Many works spread beautiful stories of the education sector; examples of good people, good deeds; noble hearts, and dedication of teachers... Including teachers who stay in remote areas, stick to schools, stick to classes, and volunteer to "sow letters" in remote places of the Fatherland.

"Through journalistic works, we see the dedication of reporters so that examples of teachers and the good values that education brings can be spread widely in society" - Deputy Minister Hoang Minh Son expressed his opinion.

Topic: Journalism and policy communication
The concept of policy in policy communication is public policies including measures of the Party and Government institutionalized and ensured implementation to solve social problems or social development.

Policy communication is the process of conveying information about the Party and State's policies in specific areas through various channels, in which the mainstream press plays a key role, to bring policies to the public. To ensure transparency between the policy issuer and the groups that benefit from and are regulated by those policies in society.

This contributes to changing awareness, moving towards adjusting the behavior and attitude of policy beneficiaries in accordance with the interests of each individual, the community and the whole society, not outside the common interests of the nation, people and all people.

However, in the current context, policy communication is not only about mainstream press, the role of social media in policy communication is having quite a clear impact.
It is undeniable that social networks have made positive contributions to policy communication, especially participating in the process of criticism from the policy drafting stage, contributing to making policies more realistic to people's lives. However, at the same time, social networks also cause the policy communication process to appear with incorrect information, unverified information or inferences that are not consistent with the views of policy drafters.

Therefore, the legitimacy and accuracy of the press are still the guarantee for the key role of the press in policy communication. This is clearly shown in the Prime Minister's Directive "On strengthening policy communication" issued in March 2023, which identified "the press as the mainstream".
So how can the press “keep the beat” as the “mainstream” in policy communication?

These are the concerns we have raised in this year's issue commemorating the 99th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day with a wish that: The press needs to be given more resources to do a good job of communicating policies, contributing to the creation of policies that are in line with the people's wishes, helping to create social consensus.
D.D.K.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/bao-chi-dong-hanh-voi-nganh-giao-duc-10284452.html