Proposing the National Assembly to reconsider assigning the Ministry of Education and Training to compile a set of textbooks

Speaking to receive the results of the National Assembly Standing Committee's supervision delegation on the general education program and new textbooks, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son basically agreed with the comments and suggestions on the points that need to be adjusted in the coming time.

However, he also suggested that the Supervisory Delegation and the National Assembly carefully consider and "reject the proposal for the Ministry of Education and Training to research, submit to the National Assembly for consideration, and decide on the policy of assigning the Ministry to compile a set of textbooks...".

Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son.

The Minister explained that during the working session between the Supervisory Delegation and the Government at the end of July 2023, the Ministry of Education and Training presented a number of analytical opinions and recommendations on this matter. However, up to now, there seem to be different views on the nature and role of textbooks in teaching and learning activities under the new program.

The head of the education sector analyzed that the new national general education program is a law, while textbooks are just learning materials, tools, and support for teachers and students to fulfill the program's requirements. "From there, the program is unique, the learning materials are diverse and flexible, so is there a need for a set of state textbooks?", Mr. Son asked. This is not a technical or management issue, but is related to the core spirit of innovation.

Currently, the Ministry of Education and Training is making efforts to guide, adjust, and require teachers to change their concepts and ways of using textbooks, considering it the focus of innovation in teaching methods.

"If the Ministry of Education and Training compiles its own set of textbooks, it will greatly affect the policy of socialization in the compilation and publication of textbooks. At the same time, it will also affect the spirit of innovation that the entire industry is aiming for in terms of methodology," the Minister emphasized.

Currently, the Ministry of Education and Training is urgently adjusting Circular 25 on book selection, increasing control over the book compilation and testing process, and the quality of book appraisal.

At the same time, the publishing and distribution activities of textbooks of the Vietnam Education Publishing House have been strongly adjusted in recent years, towards increasing product quality, reducing book prices and increasing measures to support students. In particular, attention has been paid to reducing prices, discount rates, distribution costs, etc.

The Government has also assigned the Ministry of Education and Training to urgently develop a circular to implement maximum pricing of textbooks to be implemented when the revised Law on Prices takes effect in 2024.

In the report, the National Assembly's monitoring delegation assessed that the discount rate for new textbooks is still very high. Accordingly, the discount rate for textbooks is 29% of the cover price, for exercise books it is 33%, and for teachers' books it is 15%.
For the 2022 - 2023 school year, the discount on textbooks is 28.5% of the cover price, on exercise books is 35%, and on teacher's books is 15%.
Through the inspection results, the Supervisory Delegation recommended that the National Assembly and the National Assembly Standing Committee consider transferring the competent authority to conduct a comprehensive inspection/investigation of the determination and use of costs for publishing (discounting) textbooks according to the new general education program.
At the same time, the Government is requested to direct the inspection and examination of the implementation of the new general education program, especially the bidding and procurement of educational equipment, and the printing and distribution of textbooks according to the new general education program by publishers. In particular, the Supervisory Team recommends transferring the investigation agency to determine signs of violations in determining and using the costs of publishing (discounting) textbooks.

Ha Cuong

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