A new school curriculum will be introduced over the next six years in an effort to comprehensively revamp the education system, the Ministry of Education and Training has said.

Secondary Education Department director Vu Dinh Chuan said the ministry was drafting a plan that would cost VND70 trillion (USD3.3 billion) to implement.

But only 0.01 percent of the budget would be spent on designing the new curricula and compiling new text books. The rest would be used for training teachers and managers as well as upgrading school infrastructure to best serve the renewal.

The new curriculum would be "skill-based" and "student-centred" instead of the current "teaching content-based" and "teacher-centred" programmes, Chuan said.

"The new curriculum will highlight the skills children need to have in life," Chuan said. "All lectures and exams will promote self-learning and problem-solving abilities, both in the academic environment and in real life, plus necessary life skills.

"Children will have more practical slots and less academic lessons than they do now.

"The new curriculum is not aimed to equip students with so much knowledge but rather to enable students to develop their logical abilities and learning skills."

The changes follow criticism of the current school curriculum by parents and students at all levels.

"My daughter has to study too much now, much harder than I did when I was at school. She has no time to relax. That\'s unacceptable," said Bui Minh Phuong, mother of a grade 9 student.

Nguyen Van Binh, father of a 17-year-old boy, said a lot of knowledge that his son was learning at school was "of no use in real life".

Chuan said renewing school curricula and text books was done regularly in every country.

"Science and technology is galloping ahead, changing all aspects of life, including education. Therefore, school curricula in developed countries are usually reviewed and adapted every 7-10 years," he said.

"Renewing curricula and text books by 2017 is appropriate in the world\'s context and will meet new demands for human resources."