Forcing students to be excellent in all aspects is like 'making fish climb trees'

It is not uncommon for students to only focus on studying subjects for the 10th grade entrance exam and university entrance exam while neglecting other subjects. In recent years, the Ministry of Education and Training has continuously introduced innovations and reforms in the education program to limit this situation, but perhaps these efforts have not been really effective and have unintentionally added more burden and pressure to students.

Each subject in school has its own purpose in educating students' thinking and perception. For example, Physical Education aims to train students' health. If this subject is taken lightly, students will be physically weak, lack health, and not have enough energy to study and play.

Music and Fine Arts are often considered "minor" subjects, but these are important foundational subjects that help students develop their creative talents and aesthetic eyes, thereby increasing their confidence, communication skills and cooperation skills in learning.

The issue of lopsided learning and rote learning is an eternal story with conflicting views from parents, students and education managers. It is necessary to frankly admit that students paying too much attention to a few subjects such as Math, Literature, and English is also lopsided learning.

The Ministry of Education and Training gives the reason that it is afraid that students will study unbalanced, but the Ministry itself is organizing unbalanced exams with three subjects: Math, Literature, and English as a measure to evaluate students. Why not have a variety of exams or let students choose their own exams based on their own abilities and career orientation when they go to high school or university?

Unbalanced learning and rote learning are eternal stories with conflicting views. (Illustration photo)

Focusing too much on some subjects such as Math, Literature, and English will cause a lack of basic knowledge in the long run, and when exposed to a variety of problems outside the school environment, it can easily cause confusion and bewilderment.

Learning all subjects as mentioned is very important, but learning and learning well are two completely different issues. Each child has a talent as well as a love for a certain field and subject. Therefore, there are subjects that are easy to absorb and interesting for one student, but dry, boring, and cannot be absorbed easily by another student, which is completely normal and understandable.

Adults, parents, teachers and educational administrators need to have the right direction so that students can develop their own talents instead of stubbornly holding on to the ingrained notion that "ugly is better than good".

In fact, a good doctor need not know the acceleration of light or the force of gravity. A good athlete may not know how to calculate the area of ​​a triangle inscribed in a circle. And certainly not knowing that litmus paper turns red when exposed to an acid solution and blue when exposed to a base solution will not prevent a person from becoming a talented writer.

There needs to be proper guidance for students to develop their talents. (Illustration photo)

In the education program, there are scales to evaluate the level of achievement in each subject. Students only need to achieve this score to pass the subject. It is encouraging to learn well in subjects that you are not good at or not interested in.

Accepting that they will only achieve passing scores in some subjects will help students reduce the pressure of studying when they have to spread too much time to take on subjects they do not like. This also means helping them have more time to focus on developing and learning their strengths.

My eldest son is now an architect, I am always proud of him and his career. To have the job he has now, my son has worked very hard for his dream of becoming an architect since his years of studying in secondary and high school.

Instead of choosing to become a good student in Math, Literature, English, etc., I oriented my child to study Math and Fine Arts to serve the goal of reaching his passion. My child still studied and maintained the remaining subjects at an average to good level. Neither I, nor the teachers, nor the educational program at that time saw this as inappropriate. And reality proved that we were right in creating a good educational "product".

Or with my youngest daughter who is currently in grade 9 in the new general education program. In addition to the subjects that are expected to be transferred to the next level, my child is always stressed out by other subjects.

Since hearing the news that the Ministry of Education and Training is drafting a lottery for subjects for the 10th grade entrance exam to avoid lopsided learning and rote learning, my child has been sitting on a bed of fire because he is worried about how to study with so many subjects while the time is not extended at all.

My child feels like he is sitting on a bed of fire because he is worried about how to study. (Illustration photo)

My child is naturally inclined towards social subjects, he likes to read books and has a great passion for history and geography. On the contrary, he has a harder time absorbing natural subjects. I always remind him not to neglect subjects he doesn't like, but I also don't force him or put too much emphasis on academic achievement in these subjects.

With the exam program, the assessment of each subject, when achieving enough passing points, it should be assumed that the child does not study lopsidedly or learn by rote, so why must it be included in the high school exam to avoid sloppy learning and learning by rote? As a parent, everyone wants their child to study well, but if I choose to trade my child's love and happiness for scores, I will choose to give my child joy.

After all, being successful and talented is just to live a happy life. Seeing my child struggling with subjects he doesn't like makes me feel so sad. I'm not perfect, you're not perfect either, so why do we force our children to be perfect when they are good at all subjects?

Dr. Dang Huy Phuoc

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/ep-hoc-sinh-gioi-toan-dien-chang-khac-nao-bat-ca-leo-cay-ar900891.html