Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son has just issued a document responding to the reflections of National Assembly delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy (Da Nang delegation) at the socio-economic meeting on June 1.
Blurry book printing?
During the questioning session, delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy was concerned that the Vietnam Education Publishing House had printed 79% of the textbooks for grades 4, 8, and 11 according to the new general education program before putting them out for bidding.
Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son affirmed that there is no such thing as Vietnam Education Publishing House printing books before opening bids.
Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son.
The head of the education sector said that in order to meet the demand for new textbooks, while waiting for localities to register the number of books selected for bidding, the Ministry of Education and Training requires the Vietnam Education Publishing House to prepare sufficient supplies, including spare supplies arising from printing and supplying sufficient textbooks.
Vietnam Education Publishing House reported that as of April 30, the unit had printed 86% of the planned output of textbooks for grades 5, 9, and 12 (according to the old general education program), and the inventory reached 65% of the printing plan.
With textbooks according to the new general education program for grades 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, the unit has printed 81% of the planned output, and the inventory has reached 36% of the printing plan.
As for textbooks for grades 4, 8, and 11 - which will be deployed for the first year next school year - the publisher plans to print 51.41 million copies, of which printing services are being purchased for 40.44 million copies, equivalent to 79% of the expected printing plan to select suppliers and it is expected that the printing of textbooks for these three grades will be completed before June 30, 2023.
Thus, the figure of 79% as reported above is not the number of printed books but the number included in the "printing service procurement" budget to select suppliers. Regarding this, the Ministry of Education and Training has sent a written response to the National Assembly delegate's question to Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy since May 19.
Transparent textbook selection
Regarding the selection of textbooks for the 2023-2024 school year, delegate Kim Thuy assessed: " The lack of transparency, objectivity, and respect for the opinions of teachers, schools, and students in selecting new textbooks in recent times originated from Circular 25".
Teachers choose textbooks.
Minister Son replied that from 2020, the selection of textbooks in provinces and centrally-run cities will be carried out according to Circular 25. During the implementation process, the Ministry has issued guiding documents and organized inspections in a number of localities on the selection and supply of textbooks to implement the new program.
Minister Nguyen Kim Son said that the Ministry of Education and Training would like to remind localities of two things when selecting textbooks. One is to select textbooks for each subject and educational activity in a grade level with one or several textbooks in the list approved by the Minister of Education and Training. The Ministry of Education and Training does not limit localities to only using textbooks from the Vietnam Education Publishing House.
Second, the selection of textbooks must be suitable to the socio-economic characteristics of the locality and suitable to the conditions of organizing teaching and learning at general education institutions.
Circular 25 also clearly states that the textbook selection council is established by the provincial People's Committee. This council helps the provincial People's Committee organize the selection of textbooks according to the provisions of the circular and the textbook selection criteria prescribed by the provincial People's Committee and proposes a list of textbooks used in educational institutions.
In the three years from 2020 to 2022, the Ministry of Education and Training has conducted 8 inspections in many localities on the implementation of the 2018 general education program and the selection of textbooks. Some shortcomings and problems in the selection of textbooks in localities have been grasped and directed by the Ministry of Education and Training to be overcome.
Ha Cuong
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