VietNamNet Bridge - Parents and educators believe the current educational system that focuses on tests creates passive students.

Pham Vu Hung and his wife in Binh Thanh District in HCM City take pride in their daughter, who has always been an excellent student over the last nine years.

“She is our only child. And she only has to do one thing – learning to become a good student,” Hung said.

The girl does not have to touch any housework, because this is undertaken by her mother. 

However, while Hung is proud of the daughter’s learning achievements, he cannot be proud of her life skills. The girl does not know how to fold clothes and wash dishes.

Nguyen Hoang Duy, a student from Binh Duong province, was escorted by his mother to HCM to attend the national exam. 

“My parents said I don’t need to do anything except learn so that I can become a good doctor who can earn much money,” he explained.

Tran Dinh Tro, a math teacher of the Huong Son High School in the central province of Ha Tinh, recently conducted a mini survey among his 45 students of a class for the gifted and found many problems.

Only four students could swim, though all of them had to cross rivers and streams on their ways to school. Only five students often prepare meals for families and 17 occasionally wash dishes. 

Only four students remembered their parents’ birthdays. And no one could repair their bicycles though all of them ride bicycles to school.

Recently, local newspapers reported that a superintendent signed her name on exam papers, causing 29 students to repeat the national exam. 

None of the 29 examinees dared point out the mistake made by the teacher.

The mistake was only found after two parents later reported this to the exam council.

“Many Vietnamese students dare not voice their protests or arguments, just to protect their benefits,” one parent said. 

Consequences of test-centered education

General schools in Vietnam all reported satisfactory achievements for the 2014-2015 academic year. At many schools, especially the ones in urban areas, 80-90 percent of students received the title ‘excellent student’.

However, educational experts say the result was worrying.

“I am afraid that with the exam-oriented education, we will produce a generations of students who always stay in the passive mode and only try to learn to pass exams,” an expert said.

Infonet