Is a teacher's certificate necessary?

Welcoming first grade students of Dinh Tien Hoang Primary School, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City at the opening ceremony on the morning of September 5, 2024 - Photo: QUANG DINH

Sharing with Tuoi Tre reporter about this, Mr. Nguyen Vinh Hien - former Deputy Minister of Education and Training, expert giving advice on the Law on Teachers - said: Regulations on teacher practice certificates are necessary to ensure quality in the specific field of education.

However, this content included in the draft Law on Teachers has many unreasonable points. In the future, if this issue is added to the law, there are many things that should be adjusted.

I would like to mention a saying of our people "the way of giving is better than what you give". So instead of exempting tuition fees for teachers' children, we should consider other suitable policies to ensure the lives of teachers so that they can confidently stick with their profession.

Mr. Nguyen Vinh Hien (former Deputy Minister of Education and Training)

Educational capacity, teaching capacity

What society requires of teachers is educational capacity, teaching capacity, not just training level (graduation from teacher training college). What teacher training college equips teachers with is only a necessary condition, not a sufficient condition.

No matter how good the output standards of a teacher training school are, they only meet the conditions for practicing education and do not meet the professional requirements of teachers.

The ability to fully form and develop must go through the process of training and learning from practical educational activities. If the training level is the result of the evaluation of the production place (pedagogical school) with the training product, then the teaching license is the result of the evaluation of the user of that product. Therefore, in the field of education, in my opinion, the teaching license is necessary.

However, the specific regulations regarding the granting of teaching licenses are not reasonable. The regulation that newly recruited teachers must undergo an examination to be granted a practice certificate is not appropriate.

Assessment by a test, whether oral, on paper or on a computer, is still only a way to assess knowledge and thinking, similar to assessing training level. Meanwhile, educational capacity needs to be assessed through educational activities, under the supervision and guidance of truly competent and experienced teachers, at a reputable educational institution.

Need clear regulations

Newly graduated pedagogical students do not have enough professional skills to pass the exam to get a license to practice, but need training and practice. And the fact that they have to spend money and find a place to train for the exam is an additional difficulty.

Meanwhile, we need to attract good people to this profession. So I think that instead of only recruiting teachers when they have a teaching license, we should recruit teachers with enough training qualifications and pay for internships before considering granting them a teaching license.

According to current regulations, student teachers must undergo an internship to be evaluated and officially admitted. Educational institutions do this completely autonomously but without accountability or supervision, which is unreasonable.

When making regulations that teachers must have a license to practice, it is necessary to adjust regulations related to pedagogical internships. Accordingly, there should be clear regulations on the content, methods of internship activities and specific requirements such as internship locations, teachers guiding the internships, assessment methods, procedures for requesting management agencies to issue teaching practice licenses, etc.

With strict regulations, teaching trainees only need to comply with and complete the training period, without having to do any other procedures. Trainee teachers must fully practice the work of a teacher, under the guidance and supervision of qualified and reputable teachers. And instead of receiving a training decision, they must receive a teaching license.

The review of pedagogical internships is left to the autonomy of educational institutions but must be linked to accountability. In addition, the management and supervision role of educational management agencies is needed. This is also the basis for social supervision and handling of complaints and denunciations (if any) regarding internship activities and granting of practice licenses.

Respect the role and position of teachers in society

Regarding the controversial proposal to exempt tuition fees for teachers' children, Mr. Nguyen Vinh Hien also shared his opinion: "This proposal comes from the respect for the role and position of teachers in society. Therefore, I do not want to mention whether it is fair or unfair when comparing the correlation between teachers and those working in other fields.

But I see that the drafting agency of the Teachers Law has not considered the negative psychological reactions from teachers and their children. We know that some localities have exempted tuition fees for preschool and primary school students. The whole country is aiming for compulsory education until the end of grade 9 according to Resolution 29, which means that no tuition fees will be collected from students until they finish secondary school.

If the proposal to exempt tuition fees for teachers' children is put into law and comes into effect, it will only be meaningful for students from high school and above. At this stage, students are mature in thinking and have high self-esteem.

They will feel uncomfortable when they are given priority, while there are many others who are in more difficult situations than them. That feeling will not be the same as the feeling of pride when they try hard to study well and get a scholarship.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chung-chi-hanh-nghe-nha-giao-co-can-thiet-20241015234938712.htm