General education welcomes new wind

Resolution 29 & 10 years of comprehensive fundamental innovation in education:

On November 4, 2013, the 8th Conference of the 11th Party Central Committee issued Resolution No. 29-NQ/TW on “Fundamental and comprehensive innovation of education and training to meet the requirements of industrialization and modernization in the context of a socialist-oriented market economy and international integration” (Resolution 29). The Resolution marked a new step in the Party’s strategic thinking for the cause of developing education and training in our country. From that strategic thinking, over the past 10 years, Vietnamese education has had many innovations and positive changes from general education to university education. In particular, creating “happy schools” so that “every day at school is a happy day” is also one of the major tasks of the education sector today.

Education has become more substantial.

Over the past 10 years, at the general education level, the implementation of Resolution 29 has also taken place synchronously and systematically, especially the introduction of the 2018 general education program and new textbooks into teaching. Teachers who have been involved in education for nearly 20 years can easily feel the changes every day when the educational goals and philosophies bearing the breath and spirit of Resolution 29-NQ/TW are applied to schools.

The story shared by Mr. Nguyen Cao Cuong - Principal of Thai Thinh Secondary School, Hanoi below is a vivid example. According to Mr. Cuong, the most obvious positive change since the implementation of Resolution 29 is that education has become more "realistic". Before Resolution 29 was issued, Mr. Cuong said that somewhere there were still formalities and achievements, but now real teaching and real learning have become mandatory requirements.

General education has paid much attention to the comprehensive development of students. Photo: Thai Thinh Secondary School, Dong Da, Hanoi.

Timely update of the breath of the times

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Manh Hung: “The 2018 general education program is the result of inheriting the achievements and experience in building Vietnam's program in previous stages, especially the 2006 general education program, and learning the ideology and techniques of building general education programs from developed countries. According to Associate Professor Bui Manh Hung, Vietnam innovated its program at the right time when countries such as the United States, Australia, Finland, Korea, Germany, etc. also innovated their general education. Therefore, we have the conditions to update modern program models.”

With strong direction from Party and State leaders at all levels, such as the close direction of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, education has closely followed the policy of "real teaching, real learning, real talent". Teachers and schools no longer put too much emphasis on achievements, they pay more attention to students' emotions, monitor students' progress every day through teaching towards forming skills and qualities for learners.

Mr. Nguyen Cao Cuong is the only secondary school teacher who participated in writing the Math textbooks (grades 6, 7, 8) of the “Connecting knowledge with life” series. Therefore, he clearly understands the changes that the new program and new textbooks bring. “One program, many sets of books” brings a “new breeze” to general education. In particular, the program is designed according to the orientation of developing capacity and qualities, which is a new point.

Not only Mr. Cuong but many teachers also realize that the new general education program is built according to the capacity development model, through basic, practical, modern knowledge and methods to actively promote learners' activities, helping students form and develop the qualities and capacities that schools and society expect.

Mr. Nguyen Tung Lam - Principal of Dinh Tien Hoang High School (Hanoi) said that the biggest highlight that Resolution 29 brings to general education is the educational philosophy that emphasizes the factor of teaching people. This is the most outstanding point that Resolution 29 brings.

Need to be more drastic

Besides the achievements in implementing Resolution 29, many teachers still see many points that need to be corrected so that the Resolution can be implemented better.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tung Lam, when implementing Resolution 29, he felt the positivity of the Ministry of Education and Training while many places were still passive, not really determined to accompany the Ministry of Education and Training. "For example, on the issue of salary, Resolution 29 clearly states that teachers' salaries are in the highest salary scale, but up to now teachers' salaries are still not enough to live on, many teachers' lives face many difficulties" - Mr. Nguyen Tung Lam stated.

Mr. Nguyen Cao Cuong - Principal of Thai Thinh Secondary School, Dong Da, Hanoi said that education has become more substantial since Resolution 29 was implemented in schools.

Meanwhile, according to Mr. Nguyen Cao Cuong, many points are still not as expected, such as the preparation of human resources for innovation has not met the requirements of changes in education, especially when implementing the 2018 General Education Program. The teaching staff in many places is both lacking and redundant. Many subjects that need teachers do not have them, and many subjects and levels of education show signs of surplus teachers. In addition, the salary and benefits policies are not attractive enough to attract high-quality human resources. For many years, teacher training colleges have not recruited excellent students, and many places have teachers quit their jobs.

In addition, facilities and teaching equipment are also a difficulty when many places are not guaranteed. The lack of adequate and timely facilities greatly affects the activities and quality of education in schools. In many places, teaching IT is very difficult because there are no computer rooms. Or many schools are very spacious in mountainous provinces but do not have adequate teaching equipment.

Through discussion, we can see that Resolution 29 has changed the face of general education in both quality and quantity. However, there are still some issues that are not really as expected. Hopefully, in the coming time, the barriers and limitations will be overcome so that Resolution 29 can continue to be implemented comprehensively and in depth to change general education.

Vietnam's general education is highly appreciated internationally. According to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Chi Thanh - Head of the Faculty of Pedagogy, University of Education - Vietnam National University, Hanoi, according to the ranking of the best countries in education in 2021 by US NEWS Magazine (USA), our country ranked 59th in the world. Vietnam's general education is equivalent to the group of developed countries (OECD), in the top 40.

Trinh Phuc

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/giao-duc-pho-thong-don-luong-gio-moi-post278693.html