LOOKING FOR A SUBSCRIPTION TO "ACT"
Ms. Vy Thuy Huong, a junior high school teacher in Bac Giang City (Bac Giang Province), with nearly 30 years of teaching experience, shared: When reading information in the press about the Ministry of Education and Training's plan to include in the Teachers' Law a regulation that teachers must have a professional certificate, she and her colleagues were very confused because the Ministry of Education and Training did not include explanations such as: Do teachers who have taught need to do anything to get a certificate, and which agency issues it?...
According to Ms. Huong, she is a "victim" of certificates, spending a lot of time, effort, and money to study and take exams for certificates such as foreign languages, information technology, and professional title certificates for teachers. Recently, ministries and branches found them unnecessary and too formal and costly, so they decided to abolish them. "But now, hearing information that teachers must have professional certificates without any specific information, it would be strange if teachers were not worried," Ms. Huong said.
Teachers exchange expertise after class
Sharing with Thanh Nien reporter, Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam, Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Psychology and Education, also said: The agency that builds the Teachers Law when issuing a new regulation or policy that greatly affects the teaching staff such as professional certificates should clearly state the subjects of application, why the regulation needs to be supplemented, the expected impact of the policy when applying this regulation, which agency has the right to issue professional certificates for teachers... "If teachers are required to have professional certificates as an administrative procedure to... mainly punish teachers, I will oppose it to the end," said Mr. Lam.
However, Dr. Lam also said that if professional certificates are really necessary to improve the quality of teachers, a series of accompanying questions must be answered. Countries that require professional certificates for teachers will often assign professional associations to supervise and issue certificates. When having this certificate, teachers will have to be given more autonomy and responsibility, reducing the reports and books that are too formal as before. "However, we also need to be very careful and cautious when applying professional certificates in our country. Improving the quality of teachers is especially important, but to do so, we must first improve the quality of training at teacher training colleges. If we can do that, it will no longer be necessary for teachers to have to go through additional "procedures" to be granted professional certificates after graduation," Mr. Lam commented.
DOES EUROPE NEED CERTIFICATES TO SOLVE TEACHER PROBLEMS?
Teacher Nguyen Xuan Khang, President of Marie Curie School (Hanoi), stated: There is a theoretical and practical basis for this proposal. In fact, many countries already have a certificate to practice teaching.
However, if teachers are required to have professional certificates, how will it affect society? We currently have nearly 1.5 million teachers from preschool, high school, college, vocational school and university. "This is not a small matter!", Mr. Khang said and raised a series of questions: What are the standards for being granted a professional certificate? Which authority has the authority to grant it? After how many years will the certificate expire, what must one do to get it reissued if one wants to practice? How much time, effort and money does it take to get a professional certificate? ... All these questions create visible and invisible worries. "Teachers need professional certificates! This worry is not unique to anyone," Mr. Khang exclaimed.
Mr. Khang also emphasized: "Some teachers violating professional ethics is not an important reason to consider granting practice certificates to nearly 1.5 million people. It is not necessary to have a practice certificate to handle teachers who violate professional ethics. The current mechanism is still enough to handle these cases."
HAS BEEN PROPOSAL AND MANY OPPOSITIONS
The proposal for teacher professional certificates is not new. In 2019, at a discussion to give comments on the draft Education Law 2019, Mr. Le Quan Tan, former Director of the Department of Secondary Education, said that teaching practice certificates are very important, and countries with developed education systems such as Japan have applied this certificate to those who truly meet the requirements. Mr. Tan said that if there is a practice certificate, teachers who violate ethics and commit acts of violence against students will immediately have their certificates revoked.
However, this proposal at that time also encountered many opposing opinions. Associate Professor Chu Cam Tho, Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences, stated: First of all, it is necessary to define the teaching profession before discussing the issue of granting practice certificates. For example, the law practice certificate is granted to freelancers, not civil servants. It is right to want teachers to practice their profession, but there must be conditions for doing so. Professional standards may be stable, but professional capacity may change periodically, corresponding to the requirements of educational innovation in each country. Therefore, every 3-5 years, an exam must be taken to grant a practice certificate. Teachers must always update, innovate and be assessed on their adaptability.
Many opinions point out that in our country, the teaching profession also has 18 months of internship but almost 100% are passed because our professional practice is low. Thus, the legal basis is there but it is not implemented tightly and in the right direction. Therefore, instead of "giving birth" to a professional certificate, there must be measures for teacher training schools to carry out well the practice and internship of teacher training students.
Opinion
Bridging the gap between theory and practice
Professional certification is needed because in reality, there is always a potential gap between the academic output capacity of graduates and their practical teaching skills. Many pedagogical practice skills, application of technology in lesson design, teaching..., classroom management, and interaction with students and colleagues after graduation are still lacking compared to teaching requirements. Moreover, university education is broad education, creating a foundation for lifelong learning, not as narrow as vocational training. Teachers must be able to learn for life after graduating from university. In the 4-year time frame, the conditions for practical experience are not enough, so they must have experience to shorten the gap between theory and practice...
Mr. Hoang Ngoc Vinh (former Head of Department of Vocational Education, Ministry of Education and Training)
In the long run, it creates conditions for negativity.
The granting of a teaching license partly helps improve the quality of the teaching staff. However, in 4 years of university education, each student is trained in many skills, goes through many hours of practice, internship... before graduating and becoming a teacher. In the first year of teaching, teachers still have to practice. So is it necessary to have a professional certificate? Currently, the new amended law stipulates that civil servants recruited from July 1, 2020 will sign a fixed-term contract. During the period of signing each year of a fixed-term contract, if the teacher violates the regulations, is not suitable for the requirements of the job position, it can be based on the Education Law to handle, terminate the contract... instead of "giving birth" to all kinds of cumbersome paperwork. In the long run, the granting of certificates may create conditions for negativity and make it difficult to achieve the positive criteria and goals as originally intended.
Master Pham Le Thanh (Teacher at Nguyen Hien High School, District 11, Ho Chi Minh City)
Vocational certificates do not mean much.
According to the Ministry of Education and Training, retired teachers who wish to do so will also be granted one. Education must be innovated regularly, so this regulation does not reflect this innovation. The certificate can be granted to retired teachers if needed, but it does not have much meaning. Currently, there are many ways of teaching such as online, so is a certificate needed? Therefore, a professional certificate does not have much meaning. It is important that educational institutions self-assess the capacity, professional qualifications, and professional standards of the teaching staff at their institution, thereby gradually responding to the daily innovation in education."
Master Tran Van Toan (former head of the math group (Marie Curie High School, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City)
Bich Thanh - Tuyet Mai
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