Need to seriously consider and supplement high schools to meet learners' needs

Looking at the recent situation of parents in Hanoi jostling to submit applications for grade 10, National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Thi Viet Nga, member of the National Assembly's Culture and Education Committee, said that in addition to developing public schools, it is also necessary to pay due attention to the non-public school system.

National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Thi Viet Nga said that if the shortage of schools and classes continues, the disadvantages will fall on the students, increasing the burden on parents. (Photo: NVCC)

Getting into 10th grade is harder than going to college.

Many people believe that the 10th grade entrance exam is more difficult than the university entrance exam. As a National Assembly member, what do you think?

To be more precise, the entrance exam to grade 10 of public schools is more difficult than the entrance exam to university because the number of junior high school graduates is greater than the number of public high schools. Therefore, only a portion of students can attend public schools, the rest must study in non-public schools and vocational schools.

For big cities, especially Hanoi, the pressure to enter public grade 10 is currently too great. Through the recent entrance exam, the number of students failing to enter public grade 10 in Hanoi is quite high. This is something to think about because the lack of public high schools for students while the demand is too high leads to many consequences.

When the demand for public education is high and cannot be met, many students have to switch to private schools. However, not all families can afford to send their children to these schools because the tuition is higher than public schools.

Education is the right of students, if there are students, there must be a school system. When the public school system is too small compared to the demand, it makes it difficult for parents and also disadvantages students. Therefore, we need to seriously reconsider to supplement public schools to meet the needs of students.

Solving the problem of overload

Parents are under pressure every admission season, having to stand in line to get a place in grade 10 for their children in Hanoi. The question is how can children access education at the end of high school, so that no one is left behind?

I think, to reduce the pressure on parents and to reduce the disadvantages for students, there must be synchronous solutions to perfect the system of public high schools in particular and high schools in general. We need to seriously reconsider to supplement public schools to meet the needs of learners.

The second is the issue of staffing for the education sector. According to the latest report of the Ministry of Home Affairs, in the period 2020 - 2022, the number of civil servants and public employees quitting their jobs nationwide is very high. In particular, teachers account for a very high proportion of civil servants quitting their jobs. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to staffing for the education sector and preferential treatment to attract talented people to the teaching profession. Although efforts have been made for many years, the policies are not strong enough, and some policies are even difficult to implement.

To develop the public school system, there must be a truly comprehensive and synchronous solution. Otherwise, we will just be struggling, solving one difficulty and then another one will arise. In my opinion, this needs to be done immediately, we cannot let students lack schools.

What about the non-public school system, in your opinion?

In my opinion, in addition to developing public schools, we also need to pay due attention to the non-public school system. To be fair, the non-public school system has shared a lot of the burden on the state budget. However, currently, compared to the general level, the tuition fees of non-public schools are still too high compared to the tuition fees of public schools. This is because non-public schools receive too little support from the state budget, so all expenses are included in the tuition fees.

In fact, some non-public schools have outstanding quality, and despite high tuition fees, they still attract students, but most parents hesitate because of the tuition fee problem. While we cannot immediately complete the public school system to meet the needs of learners, we need to pay attention, invest appropriately, and have strong enough incentives for the non-public school system. How can non-public schools reduce the financial burden, to reduce tuition fees for students, so that the difference in tuition fees between public and non-public schools is not too large.

If the shortage of schools and classes continues, and the non-public school system is not invested in or given proper attention, all the disadvantages will fall on the students, increasing the burden on parents.

Scene of parents jostling to submit applications for grade 10 admission in Hanoi. (Source: VGP)

The race to enter grade 10 at self-financed public or private schools that are both prestigious and have "reasonable" tuition fees is really hot. Is the responsibility not limited to the role of the education sector?

To develop the public school system, there needs to be a comprehensive and holistic solution, and the responsibility does not belong to the education sector alone. Because the Ministry of Education and Training cannot determine the number of teachers on its own, nor can it replace localities in planning land for education, and cannot do everything alone.

This is a task that requires the participation of the entire political system, of all levels and sectors, especially localities. Therefore, I hope that localities will really pay attention to this issue. Wherever there are students, there must be schools, and wherever there are schools, there must be teachers. The story of the lack of schools in large cities, especially the public school system, has been going on for years but has not been resolved as expected.

This is a difficult problem, to solve this problem requires urgent, active, serious and synchronous coordination of many agencies and departments. First of all, I hope that the Ministry of Education and Training needs to consider the total staffing for the education sector to be appropriate. There needs to be a general review and flexibility in adjusting the staffing for the education sector, avoiding local surpluses and shortages.

Second, review the institutional aspect, there are difficulties that need to be resolved immediately. In addition, I suggest that localities need to really pay attention to education in terms of both human resources and facilities. We are implementing innovation in the general education program and textbook program. We cannot delay any longer, there must be a comprehensive solution to improve the situation right from this school year.

Education is the right of students.

For many years now, parents in Hanoi have had to stay up all night in front of the gates of financially independent public schools or private schools. What is behind the suffering of parents, according to you?

Vietnam always considers education as the top national policy. We can develop education only when we develop the country. The country can only prosper on a solid educational foundation. More precisely, the education sector plays an important role in the development of the country.

However, nowadays, many students miss the opportunity to enter the public school they love. Many people think that we are developing a variety of training types, there are public schools and non-public schools, if you don't study at this school, you will study at another school. However, for students, everything is that simple.

Besides the financial issue, there is also the psychological issue of students. Psychologists often say that this age is the crisis of puberty. Their psychology has many changes. For many students, failing the public high school entrance exam that they love is like the first shock in life and also brings many different consequences. Therefore, I think the problem does not stop at which school they study.

To solve this problem, in addition to the solution I just mentioned, it is also necessary to strengthen propaganda and student streaming after junior high school to reduce pressure on public high schools. The forecasting capacity of the education sector and localities also needs to be promoted and given due attention. That is the forecasting capacity of the school size and student needs in the following years.

We must prepare early, from afar, not "waiting until the last minute", not when many students fail the entrance exam to public grade 10, then we are surprised at how to solve this situation. At this time, we need to take immediate action, pay more attention to the non-public school system in terms of facilities, as well as the quality of education and training. In addition, for students who fail to enter the public school system, there must be encouragement and proper orientation so that they do not miss their learning opportunities.

The students who have just failed the 10th grade exam when the new school year begins must go to school, must have a place to study, must have access to high school education. This issue needs to be focused on immediately, because if we only focus on each exam and then forget about it, repeating it year after year, I think it will be very difficult to achieve the desired quality of education.

Source