The Ministry of Education and Training has just announced a draft circular regulating the selection of new textbooks, in which the new point is that each school will establish a textbook selection council. When issued, the selection of textbooks in general education institutions will no longer belong to the People's Committees of provinces and cities as it does now.
The Ministry of Education and Training has just announced a draft circular regulating the selection of new textbooks, in which it gives the right to choose textbooks to schools.
RETURN THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE TEXTBOOKS TO TEACHERS IS NATURAL
Mr. Nguyen Xuan Khang, Principal of Marie Curie School (Hanoi), said that giving schools the right to choose textbooks is correct and appropriate. The Ministry of Education and Training approves general education textbooks. In principle, any textbook among the approved textbooks can be used. Therefore, the right to choose which textbook belongs to the teacher and the person who pays for the textbook (parents) is natural.
However, Mr. Khang also expressed concerns about the regulations in the draft on the appraisal of documents and approval of selection results by management levels of the Department of Education and Training, District People's Committees, Department of Education and Training, and Provincial People's Committees. The appraisal and approval work is too complicated and cumbersome... Mr. Khang proposed that autonomy and accountability for textbook selection should be given to educational institutions. Educational institutions with a team of teachers directly teaching have the ability to choose textbooks for their students and are responsible for that decision.
Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Xuan Nhi, who once had a strong opinion about giving the right to choose textbooks to a provincial or city council, agrees with the plan to return the right to choose books to teachers and schools. Because more than anyone else, teachers who teach in the classroom will understand which books are good and suitable, at the same time, this will reduce unhealthy competition between publishers, ensuring that book selection is more objective and transparent than before.
A leader of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training said that for a long time, the Hanoi People's Committee has decided to choose textbooks according to the policy that all textbooks approved by the Ministry of Education and Training, the People's Committee also approved the selection to best meet the needs and choices of educational institutions. "Whether there are few or many, they all need to be respected because they choose based on teaching conditions and the students they are teaching. Therefore, the Ministry of Education and Training returning the right to choose textbooks to schools is completely in line with the demands of reality," said this leader.
Ms. Phan Hong Hanh, a teacher at Chu Van An High School (Hanoi), said that respecting teachers' opinions in choosing new textbooks is extremely important. In fact, the characteristics of students in different regions are not the same, as well as the conditions of facilities and economic conditions of each locality. Therefore, teachers are the ones who understand students' psychology very well, the characteristics and abilities of each student, and are also the ones who directly access the textbooks. Teachers will proactively approach and select appropriate knowledge content from the textbooks to teach students.
According to the draft, teachers will be the ones to choose textbooks for students.
" JOURNEY" OF 3 CHANGES IN TEXTBOOK SELECTION REGULATIONS
According to Circular No. 01 issued by the Ministry of Education and Training on January 30, 2020, the right to decide on textbook selection belongs to general education institutions. Each school establishes a textbook selection council under the direction of the principal. The council has at least 2/3 of the members being heads of professional groups and teachers teaching subjects and educational activities. This Circular applies only to the 2020-2021 school year, the first year of implementing the "textbook change".
On August 26, 2020, the Ministry of Education and Training issued Circular No. 25 to replace Circular 01 on textbook selection. The Textbook Selection Council was established by the Provincial People's Committee to help the Provincial People's Committee organize textbook selection instead of assigning it to each school as in Circular 01.
Explaining that the regulation on the right to choose textbooks of educational institutions is only implemented for the selection of textbooks for grade 1 in the 2020-2021 school year, the representative of the Ministry of Education and Training said that from July 1, 2020, the Law on Education (amended) will take effect with the regulation that "The Provincial People's Committee decides on the selection of textbooks for stable use in general education institutions in the area" (Point c, Clause 1, Article 32). Meanwhile, the organization of the selection of new grade 1 textbooks to apply for the 2020-2021 school year must be organized from the beginning of 2020 and the results announced in May 2020 so that publishers with selected textbooks can organize printing, distribution... in time for the opening of the school year in September 2020.
The monitoring delegation of the National Assembly Standing Committee assessed: "The regulations on selecting general education textbooks in Circular 25 of the Ministry of Education and Training are not strict, leading to inconsistent implementation methods among localities. It even creates loopholes for profiteering and unfair competition." Some National Assembly delegates even expressed concern about "group interests" or "backdoor collusion" in the textbook selection process...
Faced with the shortcomings after 3 years of studying textbook selection according to Circular 25, the Ministry of Education and Training had to draft a new circular on textbook selection regulations, in which the most notable new point is that the right to select textbooks is returned to schools instead of the provincial People's Committee as in Circular 25. The chairman of the council, the principal, will be responsible for the activities, planning and implementation of the council's work plan and explain the selection of textbooks of the institution.
Supporting the policy of returning the right to choose textbooks to educational institutions, the principal of a high school in Hanoi had to exclaim: "The fact that for more than 3 years there have been 3 different regulations on choosing textbooks, each of which is extremely complicated, shows that we still lack confidence in the textbook selection process. The most complicated step is compiling, appraising, and approving textbooks, while a task that should be very simple is choosing which textbooks to use, all teachers and students need to do is find them suitable. This draft is nearly 8 A4 pages long, complicating a simple task, and placing a complex responsibility on hundreds of people, from teachers directly teaching to "the provincial leader".
Giving teachers, students and parents the right to choose textbooks is the best and most appropriate implementation of democratic principles.
CAN STUDENTS CHOOSE THEIR OWN TEXTBOOKS?
The National Assembly Standing Committee's monitoring delegation on the implementation of innovation in general education programs and textbooks also requested the Ministry of Education and Training to assess whether it is possible to apply multiple sets of textbooks for each subject at the same educational institution; the need to amend regulations to unify the selection of textbooks and give educational institutions the right to take the initiative in selecting textbooks, aiming to make the right to choose textbooks belong to students, teachers, and parents.
Speaking to Thanh Nien, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Director of the Department of Secondary Education (Ministry of Education and Training), the unit that drafted the draft, said that giving teachers, students, and parents the right to choose textbooks is the best and most appropriate implementation of democratic principles.
Mr. Thanh also said that the draft still ensures compliance with the Education Law when requiring: "Based on the results of the schools submitted by the Department of Education and Training, the Provincial People's Committee decides to approve the list of textbooks selected by local schools. After that, the Provincial People's Committee posts on the mass media the list of newly approved textbooks for use in schools before April 30 every year."
Responding to the question of whether there are regulations on whether students can use textbooks that do not match the textbooks they have chosen, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh said that there are no regulations requiring students to have textbooks to go to school or to enter the classroom. The question is whether the teacher's capacity can meet the requirements of teaching a class where students use many different textbooks.
Minister of Education and Training: "The program is unified, textbooks are learning materials"
Previously, responding to the National Assembly Standing Committee's monitoring delegation regarding this issue, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son also said: "The program is unified, textbooks are learning materials, many textbooks contribute to enriching the learning material sources for teachers and students to access. For each subject, teachers and students can use many sets of textbooks at the same time. However, for the same requirements that need to be met as prescribed in the 2018 General Education Program, textbooks have different approaches and use different learning materials. To guide students to study at the same time with content on many different learning material sources is very difficult, requiring teachers to have high pedagogical skills, students to study independently and not have too many students in the class. In the current situation, many facilities have not met this condition".
Source link
Comment (0)