Children's abilities and values ​​should not be measured solely through scores and achievements.

According to researcher and translator Nguyen Quoc Vuong, the fact that parents are too happy with their children's school scores shows that they themselves still cannot escape "achievementism" and consider education as purely a test...

Translator Nguyen Quoc Vuong believes that many parents still cannot escape from “achievementism” and consider education as purely a matter of examinations. (Source: NVCC)

Every time the school year ends, many parents post their children’s report cards and certificates of merit on social media. What do you think are the consequences of this phenomenon?

In my opinion, there are two consequences of this. One is that it makes parents whose children do not have good academic performance feel sad. Some people feel pressure and take that pressure out on their children when comparing them with "neighbors' children", "other people's children".

Second, the fact that parents are so happy with their school scores shows that they themselves still cannot escape from “achievementism” and consider education as purely a matter of examinations. This is a “fertile ground” for diseases such as the desire for fame and degrees to thrive and develop.

What is your perspective on the current pressure of exams and performance? Do exams seem to be getting more and more stressful?

Despite the widespread calls for innovation and reform, children today are actually under a lot of stress in their studies. In education, requiring students to always make an effort is necessary, but it is different from having to endure stress. In this case, stress mainly comes from exams, not from the requirement to make an effort in discovery, exploration, and expression.

Things like having to take the entrance exam to grade 1, countless online competitions, and reviewing the outline right after starting to study… are gradually becoming common. Schools do not create a diverse space but instead focus on reviewing for exams, making students’ spiritual life and experiences poor.

Does measuring a child's worth through grades and certificates trigger depression and negativity in children?

Humans are complex creatures. It is not easy to judge an individual’s ability based on his/her grades in school, even if the assessment is fair and objective. Meanwhile, people still say that one should not judge a fish’s ability to climb a tree. We all have strengths, weaknesses, and abilities in a certain field. Grades and certificates cannot define a person’s core values.

"The story of having to take the first grade entrance exam, then countless online competitions, reviewing the outline right after starting to study... is gradually becoming popular. Schools do not create a diverse space but narrow down to reviewing for exams, making the spiritual life and experiences of students become poor."

In my opinion, assessment should be a process instead of just a few tests and should pay more attention to comprehensive observation, aiming at students' self-improvement and development, not assessment for competition or student classification as many places are doing.

When schools, teachers, and parents absolutize evaluation to classify and rank, they will push children into fierce competition. In that competition, the winning team will see themselves as superior and become subjective and vain, while the losing team will become self-deprecating and self-conscious. Of course, both represent the failure of education, which should be directed towards self-improvement and value cooperation.

Don't push children into fierce competition called achievement. (Source: VOV)

In reality, many children are studying for exams, studying for achievements, studying according to their parents' wishes and according to society's evaluation. So, in your opinion, what is the solution to reduce the burden of achievements on children?

If the motivation to study comes from outside sources such as pressure, parental expectations, future salary and bonuses (as promised), then when the pressure is reduced or no longer there, students and young people will stop studying or just study for the sake of it, study to cope.

Education researcher and translator Nguyen Quoc Vuong has translated and written about 90 books on education, history, and culture. Some typical books include:

- Translated books: Vietnam's education reform, National character, Happiness with daily life...

- Books written: Reading books and the arduous journey of a thousand miles, What can Vietnamese education learn from Japan, History is not as boring as you think, Thinking about Vietnamese education on a long journey, Finding the philosophy of Vietnamese education...

Award: Good Book Award 2020 for the book What Vietnamese Education Can Learn from Japan.

The motivation for healthy learning must lie within, which is to find joy and happiness in discovering new things, things you don't know, and perfecting yourself. It sounds abstract, but that's the nature of learning.

Unfortunately, from a young age, instead of nurturing this, due to adults' expectations and insecurities, children are forced to study unreasonably with great pressure.

It is not difficult to see images of children sitting and eating bread right in their mother's car to make it to their evening classes, or children falling asleep in the car...

As a result, children study only because of pressure, not because of joy. Therefore, passing the university entrance exam means finishing studying, finishing the exam, finishing the degree. When studying like that, it is very difficult for us to achieve the highest level of achievement even if we have the qualities to do so.

What is the family's responsibility in this matter to contribute to ensuring children's rights, sir?

It can be said that your child's achievements are very valuable but should be accepted with a calm attitude. Education is a long-term matter and numbers do not fully reflect the ability or accurately assess the capacity. Humans always contain the element of surprise related to concentration, motivation, inspiration, effort and enlightenment.

The important thing is to guide children to be progressive, eager to learn, to know how to share and cooperate with people around them such as classmates, playmates... How can children not practice non-stop not to meet exams, not to care about scores. That is also one of the things we can do to ensure and promote children's rights.

Thank you!

In early May 2021, when working with the Ministry of Education and Training, in many instructions and orientations for education, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized the desire for the education sector to "Real learning, real exams, real talent".

In response to this directive, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son affirmed that the education sector will focus on implementing the important directions that the Prime Minister has directed. Among them, there is a requirement that education must “study for real, take real exams, and have real talent”.

According to Minister Nguyen Kim Son, real learning or practical learning, in terms of content, is an education that teaches people knowledge, skills, qualities, and ethics, creating real capacity, that is, what learners can use for work, for a living, for life, and for the country.
Real learning means avoiding learning things that are useless, and not learning what is needed. Real learning means that education is practical, useful, substantial, education and training meet social needs, closely linked to life. At that time, titles, academic degrees, and degrees are appropriate and reflect the true ability of the learner.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/khong-nen-chi-do-luong-nang-luc-gia-tri-cua-tre-qua-diem-so-thanh-tich-228968.html