In a document from the Ministry of Education and Trianing (MOET) to the local press, the ministry affirmed that in order to ensure fairness, publicity and transparency in choosing textbooks, the ministry has drafted a circular (which has been published on its website for public opinions) which stipulates that those who compile and inspect textbooks will not be allowed to become members of councils which have the right to choose textbooks for use.

Under the draft circular, the units to be assigned to choose textbooks are education and training establishments, not education and training departments. Therefore, leaders and officers of the HCM City Education and Department won’t have the legal status to participate in the process of choosing textbooks.

According to Tien Phong newspaper, the provisions of the circular in the case of the HCM City Department of Education and Training is unreasonable.

The fact that the Vietnam Education Publishing House and the HCM City Education and Training Department are joining hands to compile textbooks is the responsibility of involved parties and they need to explain this to MOET.

The fact that the Vietnam Education Publishing House and the HCM City Education and Training Department are joining hands to compile textbooks is the responsibility of involved parties and they need to explain this to MOET.

Meanwhile, at the workshop on renovating the general education program held by the Vietnam Education Publishing House recently, director of the HCM City Education and Training Department Le Hong Son admitted that the department has chosen a team of specialists and teachers to join hands with the Vietnam Education Publishing House to compile a set of textbooks called ‘Chan troi sang tao’ (Creative Horizon).

Chan troi sang tao is one of the four sets of textbooks published by the Vietnam Education Publishing House which has been approved by MOET.

Most recently, Nguyen Van Hieu, deputy director of the HCM City Education and Training Department, said with the permission of MOET, the HCM City Education and Training Department sent a team of experts and teachers to join the Vietnam Education Publishing House to compile the textbooks ‘Chan troi sang tao’.

At the interrogations of the HCMC People's Council, the representatives of the council as well as the leaders of the HCM City Department of Education and Training all affirmed that MOET allowed HCM City to compile a set of textbooks.

Meanwhile, asked about the issue, education experts said they can see the conflict of interest here. Son, the director of the education department, acts two roles at the same time: the head of the compilation team and the head of the state management agency. As the head of the management agency, Son will have the decisive voice in deciding which textbooks to choose. This is the manifestation of unfair competition.

Mai Lan

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