Reference books account for more than 40%

Holding the Canh Dieu book set for grade 1 that had to be purchased according to the list provided by the school, Mr. Vu Van Nam (Hoang Mai, Hanoi) said that in addition to the 9 books as announced by the book supplier, there were 7 other books, priced at 281,000 VND. With the "beer and peanuts" method of selling books, the number of reference books that parents like Mr. Nam had to "carry" accounted for more than 40% of the total number of books purchased. "Right after completing the procedures to register for grade 1 for their child, the school notified parents about buying textbooks. The list only listed the name of the book set, not clearly stating which books were textbooks and which were reference books, so I think these are all mandatory books to buy," said Mr. Nam.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai (Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City) registered her child for grade 6 and also had to buy a set of 22 books, combined from many different sets of books, for nearly 470,000 VND. Meanwhile, the actual grade 6 textbook set only includes 15 books, priced at about 320,000 VND; the remaining 7 books are all exercise books.

There are many sets of textbooks and reference books for students to choose from.

According to the announcement of Vietnam Publishing and Educational Equipment Investment Joint Stock Company, the unit associated with Ho Chi Minh City University of Education Publishing House to publish the Canh Dieu book series, the first grade textbook set includes 9 books with the whole set priced at 199,000 VND. "The textbook set has all the subjects and educational activities according to the 2018 General Education Program," as the Company introduced.

For many years now, as the school year approaches, schools have replaced book publishing companies in notifying parents to buy books for their children to help them study in the new school year. This is happening in schools in many provinces and cities. For example, the list of books for grade 9 in the 2023-2024 school year at Phu Dien A Secondary School (Bac Tu Liem, Hanoi) includes 2 parts, including 40 textbooks and exercise books, priced at 756,400 VND, not including 14 optional books. When looking at the list of books provided by the school, parents all understand that part 1 is a mandatory book, part 2 is an optional book. Explaining this, teacher Vu Thi Minh Ngan, Principal of Phu Dien A Secondary School, affirmed: The purchase of books is completely voluntary for parents; the school does not force them, even with textbooks.

Many other opinions say that it is not wrong for schools to sell textbooks in school, but it needs to be done openly, transparently, and importantly, not forcing parents or confusing the books, making parents mistakenly think that all are mandatory.

The workbook paradox

Not only are they burdened with reference books, what makes parents upset is the waste of these books. This is also a problem that has existed for many years, heating up the National Assembly. At the end of 2022, the Government Inspectorate proposed transferring the file to the Ministry of Public Security to review signs of "group interests" between the Ministry of Education and Training and the Vietnam Education Publishing House in printing and distributing exercise books, causing students and parents to misunderstand that these are textbooks and causing thousands of billions of dong to be wasted for students' families.

Exercise books do not improve students' knowledge compared to textbooks, so for many years now, Viet Duc High School (Hoan Kiem, Hanoi) has been one of the few schools that does not include exercise books in the list of books sold to students at the beginning of the school year. "We advise parents not to buy exercise books to avoid waste when they are not used. During the teaching process, teachers will prepare appropriate worksheets according to the students' abilities. If it is really necessary to buy exercise books, teachers will notify parents," said Dr. Nguyen Boi Quynh, Principal of Viet Duc High School.

To reassure parents, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Director of the Department of Secondary Education, Ministry of Education and Training, affirmed: The Ministry has strictly directed teachers not to use exercises in reference books to make test questions for students. However, according to education experts, the fact that schools continue to sell reference books with textbooks before the new school year 2023-2024 shows that the Ministry of Education and Training needs to be more drastic in this matter.

Selling books in the style of “beer and peanuts” has become a problem in schools for many years. Therefore, it is necessary to ban the sale of reference books in schools. At a press conference on the activities of the police force in the first 6 months of the year, Major General Nguyen Van Thanh, Deputy Director of the Department of Police Investigation of Crimes of Corruption, Economy, and Smuggling, Ministry of Public Security, said that this unit is investigating to clarify the suspected violations in the distribution of textbooks, including reference books.

Directive No. 643/CT-BGDDT dated June 10, 2022 of the Ministry of Education and Training on the use of textbooks and reference books in general education institutions, directs educational institutions not to encourage students, learners, and parents to buy publications outside the list of textbooks approved by the Ministry of Education and Training and selected by localities in any form; not to make a list, package into sets of textbooks with exercise books, reference books, and other documents outside the list of textbooks approved and selected for students and parents to buy and use.

Article and photos: PHAM MAI  

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