Middle and high school teachers cast doubt on a scheme in which the Ministry of Education and Training demands a halt to grading students on physical education, music, and drawing from this academic year forward.
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| In this picture, students are attending a physical education session at Marie Curie High School in Ho Chi Minh City's District 3. Photo: Tuoi Tre |
The education governing body said a comment-based judging scheme would be more suitable than giving specific marks, as the subjects are simply meant to improve students’ physicality and aesthetic appreciation.
Many teachers have said the proposed system is unreliable, since it depends so heavily on personal feelings.
“We will implement it because we have to; not because of its feasibility,” said the principal of a middle school in HCMC’s District 3. “None of my teachers advocated for the system.”
The plan would allow students to slack off, as they would no longer need to strive for high scores, warned Ngo Nhan Nghia, a physical education teacher at Mac Dinh Chi High School in District 6.
Kim Hong, a music teacher at a school in District 1, worried that students would ignore those subjects as they would no longer factor into their overall GPA.
Comments and remarks are given randomly and arbitrarily, so fairness would be challenged, many others said.
In the meantime, many schools say they have no clue how to apply the plan since no particular guidelines have been issued so far this year.
“We are still waiting for guiding documents from the ministry,” Nguyen Van Hieu, of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, said.
There is also confusion in Hanoi over how to judge student’s performance in the subjects given no detailed guidance.
“We have passed the regulation on to our teachers and are looking forward to further counselling,” said Pham Huu Hoan, an official on the capital’s education board.