One program, many textbooks is the right policy. However, after a period of implementation, textbooks always attract great public attention, especially regarding the price and quality of books.
PV of Dai Doan Ket Newspaper had an interview with Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Tung - Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam Education Publishing House (NXBGDVN) about changes and adjustments in the price and quality of textbooks after 5 years of implementing the 2018 General Education Program.
PV: From the 2020-2021 school year, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) will begin to introduce a new set of textbooks into the national curriculum for grade 1. Could you tell us what is different about the process of compiling and publishing textbooks for the 2018 General Education Program compared to before?
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Tung: The biggest difference between textbooks under the new program and the previous phase is that many sets of textbooks are compiled, reviewed and put into teaching in general education institutions instead of only one set of textbooks used uniformly throughout the country.
Regarding the process of compilation and publishing, in the past, the Ministry of Education and Training built a team of authors, organized compilation, pilot teaching, and teacher training; the publishing house only carried out the editing, publishing, printing, and distribution stages.
With the 2018 program textbooks, the publishing houses/compilation units must carry out all stages from building a team of authors, organizing compilation and editing; organizing experiments; introducing and training teachers; publishing, printing and distributing. And the publishing units must bear all costs related to this entire process.
In addition, in the past, because there was only one set of textbooks, there was no need to introduce books. When implementing the socialization of textbooks, publishers had to organize the introduction of books to teachers and educational institutions nationwide by many different methods.
The supply of books is also more complicated because localities do not choose textbooks by series but by subject. Schools can choose books from many different series. Therefore, publishing units also face certain difficulties in the process of supplying textbooks according to the specific needs of each school.
Sir, what role and contribution do publishers have to the success of the current policy of socializing textbook compilation?
- The participation of many publishers, organizations and enterprises publishing textbooks is a decisive factor in the success of the policy of socializing education and socializing textbook compilation. Rich learning materials, with good quality in content and form, contribute effectively to promoting the development of education in the country.
NXBGDVN has nearly 70 years of experience in the field of compiling and publishing textbooks. Currently, NXBGDVN has 2 out of 3 textbook sets compiled according to the 2018 program, namely Connecting Knowledge with Life and Creative Horizons, which include full books for subjects and educational activities from grades 1 to 12. NXBGDVN's textbook sets are used and highly appreciated by the majority of general education institutions nationwide.
This is proof that the Vietnam Education Publishing House has made positive contributions to the success of the policy of socializing textbook compilation.
To ensure that all students have adequate access, on time, and meet the 2018 General Education Program, what adjustments has the Vietnam Education Publishing House made in terms of price and quality of books, sir?
- Recently, NXBGDVN has made every effort to review, balance and adjust textbook prices.
Before talking about price adjustment, I would like to provide a little information about the textbook price structure and the reason why the new textbook price (according to the 2018 program) is higher than the old textbook price (according to the 2000 program).
Textbook prices are made up of many factors, which basically focus on the following factors: Cost of organizing the manuscript; royalty costs; production costs such as printing paper, printing costs, etc.; circulation costs (also known as distribution costs); financial costs (also known as interest).
Recently, public opinion has said that the Publishing House of Education and Training (NXBGDVN) has made a large profit from textbooks, but in reality, the profit from textbooks is real but the profit is small. The entire capital for production and business of the Publishing House of Education and Training (NXBGDVN) is currently mostly borrowed from banks. The profit of the Publishing House of Education and Training (NXBGDVN) mainly comes from other types of books (such as supplementary books, reference books), which are the types of books that any publishing unit can participate in making.
Although the profit from textbooks is very low, implementing the direction of management levels and at the same time determining the responsibility of a state-owned enterprise under the Ministry of Education and Training, NXBGDVN determined that supporting teachers, students and ensuring social security are among the most important goals. Therefore, from the 2024-2025 school year, NXBGDVN has adjusted the price of textbooks.
Regarding the improvement of textbook quality, the Vietnam Education Publishing House has proactively, thoroughly and seriously prepared to compile textbooks to serve educational innovation according to the Resolution of the National Assembly. The textbooks of the Vietnam Education Publishing House are assessed to have many innovations and appeals, helping teachers to be proactive and creative in teaching methods, meeting the requirements of developing students' qualities and abilities. Innovation in approaches and teaching methods is an important step forward, an inevitable trend of modern textbooks.
According to you, what mechanisms and policies are needed for the socialization of textbooks to be effective?
- Currently, the legal regulations for different types of enterprises in organizing production and business activities, organizing publishing-printing-distributing textbooks are different, creating an unequal competitive mechanism. Private enterprises or joint stock companies have the right to proactively organize production, proactively purchase materials and printing services directly without having to carry out bidding processes and procedures like state-owned enterprises, so the implementation time and progress are very short, proactive, creating a competitive advantage over state-owned enterprises. Therefore, we hope that the State will have equal policies and regimes for publishing houses in publishing, printing and distributing textbooks.
So, in your opinion, what should the education sector do to raise public awareness about the role of textbook socialization in educational innovation?
- The policy of socializing textbook compilation is a progressive viewpoint. This breakthrough changes the quality as well as the appearance of Vietnamese education, so it requires determination, perseverance, and overcoming difficulties to implement. Therefore, it is necessary to proactively and widely propagate the superiority of the policy of a program with many textbooks and the shortcomings of having only one set of textbooks.
Professional management must be based on the program, not the textbook. Examinations are conducted according to the program's requirements.
The program is a static factor, while textbooks are understood as dynamic factors. Teachers will choose textbooks that are suitable for the conditions and teaching methods to impart knowledge to students. This is considered a creative openness for teachers and students, which will gradually eliminate the situation of teachers reading and students copying, extra teaching and learning, and piled up homework.
Thank you very much!
Source: https://daidoanket.vn/sach-giao-khoa-xa-hoi-hoa-chu-khong-thuong-mai-hoa-10294941.html
![[Photo] Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs Government Conference with localities on economic growth](https://vstatic.vietnam.vn/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/2/21/f34583484f2643a2a2b72168a0d64baa)
Comment (0)