>> Textbook prices on the rise
A VND70 trillion (USD3.39 billion) project on reforming high-school education being complied by the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) is facing strong opposition from many experts.
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The project aims to comprehensively reform current high school curriculum and textbook content to bring them in line with international standards to meet the demands of national socio-economic development.
Investment for the project is expected to be sourced from the state budget, loans, and non-refundable aid.
According to Vu Dinh Chuan, Head of the High School Education Department, of the total investment, VND35 trillion (USD1.69 billion) would be used for school construction, VND30 trillion (USD1.45 billion) for the purchasing of teaching and learning equipment, VND960 billion (USD46.6 million) will be spent on textbooks, with VND390 billion earmarked for teacher training and improved skills for educational managers.
He added that MoET was only now compiling the views of ministries and agencies.
Big waste
Associate Prof. Dr. Nguyen Ke Hao, one of the first experts invited to contribute an opinion on the project, said that the project was severely lacking in detail. It needed greater clarity regarding the tasks facing the education sector, including the national education development strategy for the 2011-2020 period. He dismissed the current project outline as not being much better than a draft, and suggested it was not ready to be submitted to the government and the National Assembly.
Prof. Hao dismissed the VND35 trillion planned for building schools as a squandering of resources because government bonds had already been issued to upgrade schools and remove makeshift classrooms.
“Large amounts of learning and teaching equipment are currently being left unused or have been broken, so spending up to VND30 trillion on new equipment might not actually bring any benefits to teachers and students. It’ll just be a gigantic waste of money," Prof. Hao noted.
He however stressed the need to implement the revisions to school curriculum, “we need to at least complete an overhaul of teaching programmes and texbook content within the next decade”.
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Han from Vietnam National University, Hanoi, added that textbooks should only be re-printed every 15 years to avoid financial waste.
Prof. Van Nhu Cuong, Headmaster of Luong The Vinh People-Founded School, said “A third of the current curriculum is unnecessary and should be cut”, adding it was unnecessary to re-write out-of-date textbooks.
