VietNamNet Bridge – A new school curriculum is being planned in an effort to comprehensively revamp the education system, the Ministry of Education and Training said.

Brand new text books are planned to be introduced in the 2017-18 academic year as part of a comprehensive education renewal. (Photo: VNS)

But only $45.7 million, or 1.4 per cent 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".

"A comprehensive change in the curriculum is necessary to better nurture the young generation," he said.

Schoolgirl Hoang Phuong Linh, 8, said she gets bored with school because she has to "learn by heart" while art lessons, which she really like merely don't exist at her public school in Ha Noi.

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 in Viet Nam."

However, teacher Van Nhu Cuong suggested cutting the current curriculum by one third would be enough and would save the cost of a new one.

Retired teacher Hoang Hoai Nhon said the curriculum and text books had changed about every 10 years since she started working as a teacher in early 1970s but had got even worse in some key subjects, such as Vietnamese.

"That's why children now are sadly worse in their own language," she said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News