On the eve of the new school year 2024-2025, VietNamNet interviewed Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son.
Implementing new preschool education program, enhancing university autonomy
- Minister Nguyen Kim Son, can you share the key tasks that the education and training sector is aiming for in the new school year 2024-2025?
In the 2024-2025 school year, together with the whole country, the Education sector will focus on implementing the major tasks assigned in the Resolutions and major policies of the Party, National Assembly, and Government, continuing to innovate education and training.
In the new school year, the entire education sector will strive to best fulfill the set goals. Therein, focusing on implementing the contents of Conclusion 91 of the Politburo, continuing to implement Resolution 29-NQ/TW on fundamental and comprehensive innovation in education and training; Completing the first cycle of organizing the effective implementation of the 2018 general education program and organizing the evaluation of the entire implementation process; Preparing conditions for implementing the new preschool education program.
At the same time, the education sector will strengthen university autonomy in the direction of increasing quality, depth, practicality, and substance, synchronously implementing solutions to improve the quality of human resource training, meeting the requirements of industrialization - modernization and international integration of the country. In particular, the sector will prioritize training high-quality, high-tech human resources, including the semiconductor industry, artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
The Ministry of Education and Training will advise and submit to the Government an Action Program to implement Conclusion 91 of the Politburo, continuing to fundamentally and comprehensively innovate education and training. On that basis, issue an action plan of the education sector to implement the Government's Action Program in a systematic, scientific manner, in line with the spirit of practicality, ensuring feasibility and effectiveness.
In the 2024-2025 school year, the Education sector will also continue to review, revise and supplement the system of legal documents, paying attention to practical issues that arise and need to be adjusted to remove difficulties and obstacles; creating favorable mechanisms and policies for development. In particular, priority will be given to resources to complete the development of the Law on Teachers - a Law project that will solve one of the most crucial issues in education, which is the development of the teaching staff.
The Ministry of Education and Training will soon issue the Vietnam Education Development Strategy to 2030 and vision to 2045, in addition to developing a plan to overcome existing problems and limitations, striving to overcome challenges, aiming for a school year with even better results.
- What are the keywords identified for the new school year 2024-2025, Minister?
The Education sector has identified the theme of the 2024-2025 school year as "Innovation, quality improvement, solidarity and discipline" with 12 key tasks and solutions.
Rehearse and widely deploy the 2025 high school graduation exam to avoid risks
- The 2024-2025 school year will see the 2018 General Education Program enter its final year of the first journey; the first high school graduation exam under the new program. Can the Minister tell us about the Ministry of Education and Training's direction for this important school year?
After 4 years of implementation by grade and level, the 2018 General Education Program will complete its cycle in the 2024-2025 school year with the final grades of each level. This will also be the first school year in which the high school graduation exam will be organized according to the new plan, meeting the requirements of the General Education Program innovation.
The recent journey of general education reform, despite many difficulties, also shows the determination and efforts of the entire political system, authorities at all levels and the entire education sector to gradually form a mindset of reform among those who implement, benefit from and convince society of the positive results of reform.
Identifying this as an important school year, the Ministry of Education and Training has made preparations since previous school years. For example, the high school graduation exam plan from 2025 has been developed, widely consulted and received high consensus from society. Immediately after the plan was issued, the Ministry of Education and Training began preparing for the 2025 high school graduation exam. It is expected that the 2025 high school graduation exam regulations will be issued in November 2024. The long-term stability of the exam regulations has also been taken into account in the drafting process to facilitate students, teachers, schools and localities in implementation.
Currently, the Ministry of Education and Training is reviewing and finalizing the draft of new admission regulations for 2025 with the general spirit of simplification, creating convenience for students and society, ensuring the quality of admission and fairness of opportunities for candidates. Higher education institutions will still be autonomous in admission but will have to further promote social responsibility.
In addition, the preparation process for the 2025 high school graduation exam needs to be piloted on a fairly large scale for evaluation, so the Departments of Education and Training have prepared plans for this work, and at the same time practiced to avoid risks when implementing the official exam.
This year, the timetable and guidelines for the new school year for each level of education were issued early by the Ministry of Education and Training, specifically mentioning each task, work that needs to be done and must be done; including two important tasks: directing the effective implementation of the 2018 General Education Program for the final grades of all levels of education, and preparing conditions for organizing the high school graduation exam in 2025.
Along with direction and guidance, specialized units and the Ministry of Education and Training have been closely monitoring, planning to support and accompany localities in implementing each important task and work of the new school year 2024-2025.
Perfecting the system of policies and laws, enhancing the status of teachers
- What is the solution to the problem of ensuring the quantity, quality and structure of the teaching staff, sir?
The country currently has about 1.6 million teachers. In the 2023-2024 school year, the whole sector recruited 19,474 teachers, however, the number of students is constantly increasing, leading to an increase in the number of classes, resulting in a large shortage of teachers in most localities.
The Ministry of Education and Training has directed localities to fill all quotas and place orders for teacher training; universities actively organize training related to new subjects...
The Ministry of Education and Training will continue to improve the system of policies and laws, enhance the status of teachers; including the Law on Teachers which will be submitted to the National Assembly, creating a legal corridor for the promulgation of policies on remuneration, recruitment, use, management, honor, reward... and giving the education sector the initiative in recruiting, mobilizing and arranging teachers.
At the same time, coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs to advise competent authorities to allocate the remaining staff quotas according to Decision 72 of the Central Committee; resolutely urge localities to recruit all staff assigned from previous years and assign additional positions. At the same time, direct localities within their authority and specific socio-economic conditions to have appropriate support policies for local teaching staff, creating trust and peace of mind for teachers during their work.
In recent times, preferential policies for teacher training students, changes in basic salaries, etc. have had a positive impact on students' choice to study teacher training; many localities have issued and implemented specific mechanisms and policies to create incentives to attract and "retain" teachers; the Law on Teachers is being developed based on practical requirements... All of these show that there have been important movements to resolve the difficulties in the issue of staff.
- Can the Minister share more about the progress of the draft Law on Teachers?
Teachers play an important role in determining the quality of education. Reality has proven that the development of education depends on the development of the teaching staff. The results of educational innovation depend on the innovation of each teacher. The quality of teachers depends on many factors. In addition to individual efforts, the spirit of continuous learning of each teacher, policies, working environment, methods of selecting, recruiting and developing teachers also play an important role.
From that awareness, over the past long time, the Ministry of Education and Training has actively prepared theoretical and practical bases to propose to the Party, the State, and the National Assembly to allow the development of a separate Law regulating teachers. By April 2024, the National Assembly Standing Committee agreed to submit to the National Assembly to include the development of the Law on Teachers in the 2024 Law Development Program of the 15th National Assembly. This is good news, meeting the expectations of 1.6 million teachers working in educational institutions nationwide.
Assigned the responsibility of presiding over the drafting of the Law on Teachers, after a period of drafting with many tasks, complicated processes, and difficult new content, on May 13, the Ministry of Education and Training announced the draft Law on Teachers to widely solicit public opinion.
On August 27, the draft Law on Teachers was commented on by the Government at the Special Session on Lawmaking for completion and submission to the National Assembly Standing Committee as prescribed. According to the plan, the draft Law on Teachers will be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and initial comments at the 8th session (October 2024) and considered and approved at the 9th session (May 2025).
- On the occasion of the opening of the new school year 2024-2025, what message does the Minister want to share with teachers and students across the country?
The more the country's socio-economic development, the higher the requirements for education and training. Never before has the education sector been assigned such a great responsibility, honor and challenge as it is today. Last school year, the entire sector made great efforts to overcome many difficulties and challenges.
The 2023-2024 school year has ended with many good results, the new school year is about to begin. On behalf of the leaders of the Ministry of Education and Training, I acknowledge, commend and thank the outstanding efforts of the management team, teachers, staff in the whole sector, and students in the past school year.
On the threshold of the new school year, I hope that every manager, teacher and staff in the whole sector will continue to make new efforts, new determination, new solutions, promoting the fine traditions of the education sector to continue to develop Vietnamese education, meeting the requirements and tasks assigned by the Party and the State. I wish teachers more joy and motivation to work and contribute. I wish students a new school year with much creativity and progress.
Thank you, Minister!
The Ministry of Education and Training will develop a project to make English the second language in schools.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/chua-bao-gio-nganh-giao-duc-co-thach-thuc-lon-nhu-hien-nay-2317601.html
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