There will be no more "voluntary requests for extra classes"

Talking to Kinh te & Do thi Newspaper about the new points of the draft, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Director of the Department of Secondary Education (Ministry of Education and Training) said: The draft on management of extra teaching and learning aims to prohibit negative phenomena; not prohibit the real and legitimate needs of teachers and learners.

Many strict regulations on management of extra teaching and learning

Analyzing the new points and differences between the draft and the current circular, according to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, previously, the regulations specifically stated cases where extra teaching and learning were not allowed, but in this draft, the above content has been adjusted to ensure fairness and appropriateness.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Director of the Department of Secondary Education (Ministry of Education and Training) informed many new points about the Draft on management of extra teaching and learning.

For example, in Article 3 - Principles of extra teaching and learning, the draft states: "No extra teaching and learning will be organized in schools for schools that have organized 2 sessions/day". Currently, the 2018 General Education Program is designing compulsory 2-session teaching in primary schools, so there will be no extra teaching and learning in schools at the primary level. And thus, the draft ensures fairness between primary, secondary and high schools.

If in the past, the organization of extra teaching and learning in schools had the phenomenon of discrimination between "main subjects, secondary subjects", between this teacher and that teacher, now there is a solution to overcome this. That is, with extra teaching and learning in schools, it must start from the proposal of the professional group. The proposal of the professional group will be recorded in minutes, signed by the group leader and the secretary is a teacher elected at the meeting.

"The management of extra teaching and learning in schools that the draft is seeking opinions on is aimed at regulating in a public and transparent manner so that when there are questions or inspections, everything must have verification documents," Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh analyzed.

In the draft, the Principal, based on the proposal of the professional groups, organizes a meeting with the following members: school leaders, heads of professional groups, representatives of the school's Parents' Association to unify the organization of extra teaching and learning, ensuring practicality, fairness, transparency, and the interests of students. The total teaching time and organization of educational activities according to the school's educational plan and extra teaching and learning must not exceed 35 periods/week for primary school, not more than 42 periods/week for secondary school, not more than 48 periods/week for high school.

The above regulation on the number of periods/week has been implemented since 2010 according to Official Dispatch No. 7291/BGDĐT-GDTrH dated November 1, 2010 guiding teaching 2 sessions/day for high schools. The total teaching time in schools, including extra teaching and learning in the draft, must not exceed the number of periods in this regulation.

Another new point mentioned in the draft is that for extracurricular teaching outside of school, organizations or individuals doing extracurricular teaching business must first register their business according to the provisions of law. It should be noted that this is not a regulation of the Ministry of Education and Training but a regulation of the law on business registration. Next, the extracurricular teaching facility must publicize the subjects that are organized for extra teaching and learning; the duration of extra teaching and learning for each subject by grade level; the location and time of organizing extra teaching and learning; the list of extra teachers and the amount of extra tuition fees before enrolling students for extra teaching and learning classes.

All people participate in monitoring

The draft stipulates that public school teachers are not allowed to “organize” extra teaching and learning, but teachers are still allowed to “participate” in extra teaching. Teachers who participate in extra teaching outside of school must report to the principal about the subject, location, and time of extra teaching and commit to the principal to complete the assigned tasks and not violate regulations on the principles of extra teaching and learning.

Draft regulations on the maximum number of extra teaching and learning hours in schools, for each level of education (Photo: TL)

In the case that a teacher's extracurricular class includes students from the class that the teacher is directly teaching at school, the teacher must report, make a list of students and send it to the principal and commit not to use any form of coercion to the students. This regulation helps the principal have information and keep records, in case the teacher violates, there will be evidence to handle.

According to current regulations, when parents want to participate in extra classes, they must write a voluntary application for extra classes, then the school will develop a plan for extra teaching and learning. However, in this draft, extra teaching and learning will be proposed by the professional team. Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh shared: with this regulation, there will be no more situations of "forcing" students and parents to voluntarily write applications. The draft regulation stipulates that all information about extra teaching and learning must be available in advance, then students and parents will have a basis to register based on the actual needs and desires of each student.

The draft also clearly states that teachers (including vice principals) of public schools who teach extra classes outside of school must report to the principal for record keeping. The draft does not prohibit teachers from teaching extra classes to their own students when students and parents really need it, and absolutely no coercion is allowed.

Thus, the draft has introduced many new regulations on the need to publicize information and reports when organizing extra teaching and learning. This is to prohibit negative phenomena and not to prohibit the real and legitimate needs of both teachers and students.

The draft also adds the principle: "Do not use examples, questions, and exercises that have been taught or studied in extra classes to test and evaluate students" to avoid the phenomenon that causes public outrage, which is that many people think that "getting high scores is because of taking extra classes and knowing the questions in advance".

The draft also contains many regulations showing that supervision of extra teaching and learning is not only the responsibility of the education and training sector or local authorities, but also requires the participation of all people, including students and parents.

 

“Extra teaching and learning are practical needs of both teachers and students. Good teachers will always have studious students who want to learn to develop their abilities. The current issue that is very pressing for public opinion is that teachers teach students at school or use many forms to force students to take extra classes that they themselves teach outside, leading to the phenomenon of students and parents having to voluntarily do so. This is an issue that the education and training sector must find a way to manage” - Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Director of the Department of Secondary Education (Ministry of Education and Training).

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/se-khong-con-xuat-hien-don-tu-nguyen-xin-hoc-them.html