Extra points for children of revolutionaries before 1945 are outdated.

Outdated regulations, mechanical application

National Assembly delegate Nguyen Thi Viet Nga (Hai Duong delegation) said that not only Nam Dinh, many other localities also have regulations on giving priority to adding 1-2 points for students taking the entrance exam for grade 10 of public high schools in the 2023-2024 school year who are children of revolutionary activists before 1945, including Hanoi. "The regulation is not wrong but redundant, no longer suitable and localities are applying it mechanically," she said.

The regulation comes from Circular 11/2014 of the Ministry of Education and Training on cases of priority points in secondary and high school admissions. Specifically, candidates who are entitled to priority are children of resistance fighters who were exposed to toxic chemicals; children of revolutionaries before January 1, 1945; children of revolutionaries from January 1, 1945 to the August 1945 uprising.

The purpose of this circular is to review and ensure the rights of all candidates, without leaving anyone out. However, according to Ms. Nga, after more than 9 years of implementation, the Ministry of Education and Training has not yet re-evaluated and reviewed the cases to amend this circular, leading to a situation where localities apply it mechanically.

National Assembly Delegate: Adding points to children of revolutionaries before 1945 is outdated - 1

Regulations on bonus points for entrance exam to grade 10 of Nam Dinh province.

At the time of drafting the circular, the Ministry of Education and Training was too preoccupied with priority cases. It was necessary to consider whether these groups of candidates were feasible to apply for priority or if they were just a small number of 1-2 out of a total of 1 million candidates each year.

Ms. Nga pointed out that local Departments of Education and Training included the entire regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training into this year's enrollment regulations "without considering whether they are appropriate or not, or whether they can be implemented or not." The consequences of these redundant regulations have caused mixed reactions from public opinion.

"This is the utmost negligence of the locality, only knowing how to copy the circular of the Ministry of Education and Training without calculating and selecting it to suit the locality," said the female delegate of Hai Duong province.

The age of students taking the entrance exam for grade 10 of public high schools in the 2023-2024 school year is about 14-15 years old, while the Department of Education and Training also takes into account children of war invalids and people who participated in revolutionary activities before 1945. For those who participated in revolutionary activities before 1945. If they were still alive today, they would be around 100 years old and their children would be at least over 80 years old.

Therefore, delegate Nguyen Thi Viet Nga suggested that the Ministry of Education and Training should review this regulation to adjust the circular to suit the current situation. Provinces need to learn from experience when determining priority subjects appropriately. For example, Hanoi, Ha Giang, and Ho Chi Minh City do not have students living on islands but still have regulations on giving extra points to students in island areas - such regulations are redundant and not close to reality.

National Assembly Delegate: Adding points to children of revolutionaries before 1945 is outdated - 2

Candidates taking the high school graduation exam. (Illustration photo)

Propose that the Ministry of Education and Training consider adjusting

National Assembly Delegate Ta Van Ha, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education, said that laws, circulars or regulations need to be regularly updated, suitable to the actual situation and applicable to the public and disseminated.

Some localities and the Ministry of Education and Training are still mechanically maintaining the regulation of giving priority to students who are children of revolutionary activists before 1945 in the 10th grade entrance exam. This is a very small minority group and these cases are too far from current reality. The Ministry of Education and Training should consider adjusting, not mechanically including it in the regulations.

Previously, public opinion was stirred up by the regulation of giving priority points to candidates who were heroic Vietnamese mothers who participated in revolutionary activities before 1945. Therefore, when making any regulation or preferential point system for any group of candidates, it is necessary to consider the reality and whether it is feasible to apply it or not.

National Assembly Delegate: Adding points to children of revolutionaries before 1945 is outdated - 3 — National Assembly Delegate Ho Thi Minh.

Sharing the same view, National Assembly delegate Ho Thi Minh (Quang Tri delegation) assessed that the current regulations on adding priority points of the Ministry of Education and Training are too outdated, leading to localities applying them mechanically.

Not only this regulation, there are many other regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training that have been issued for 10-15 years without a comprehensive review for amendment. She gave an example of the regulation on giving priority to candidates with registered residence in border areas, islands, and disadvantaged areas while clearly aiming for fairness in education.

Ms. Minh hopes that in the coming time, summarizing 10 years of implementing Resolution 29 on fundamental and comprehensive innovation of Education, the Ministry of Education and Training will frankly acknowledge the limitations, learn from experience and propose new solutions and directions to change education synchronously from teachers, students, attracting talents...

National Assembly Delegate Pham Van Hoa, member of the National Assembly's Law Committee, also said that the Ministry of Education and Training needs to soon adjust the issued policies to suit the actual situation, serving the majority of people in society.

"Students who take the 10th grade entrance exam are usually 15 years old, so are there any cases where the children of those who participated in the revolution before 1945 are in this age range? In fact, those who participated in the revolution before 1945 are now old and no longer healthy enough to adopt children, let alone have biological children," Mr. Hoa analyzed.

In recent days, public opinion has been stirred up by the regulation of giving priority points to children of revolutionary activists before January 1, 1945, by the Nam Dinh Department of Education and Training.
Briefly explaining the above regulation, Mr. Cao Xuan Hung, Director of Nam Dinh Department of Education and Training said: "The priority subjects for entering grade 10 in this document are based on the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training".
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Director of the Department of Secondary Education, Ministry of Education and Training, said that the circular regulating the subjects of priority points was issued in 2014. At that time, the drafting committee wanted to cover all subjects.
"This case includes both biological and legally adopted children. That means people who joined the revolution at the age of 15, but when they were 60 - 70 years old, or even older, they adopted children, so there are still cases where they were 90 years old and their adopted children took the 10th grade entrance exam," he shared and said that the Ministry of Education and Training has planned to review and consider, and if there are any inappropriate regulations, they will change.

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