VietNamNet Bridge - The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has been facing fierce criticism for its proposal to integrate history into other learning subjects. 

All the participants at a workshop on the role of history in general education held recently showed their discontent about the ministry’s intention on integrating history into other learning subjects. 

Nghiem Dinh Vy, former deputy head of the Central Committee for Propaganda and Education, commented that he has never seen such a ‘scorching hot’ workshop before.

MOET’s Deputy Minister Nguyen Vinh Hien, anticipating the public’s opposition against the ministry’s idea, tried to calm the audience down when affirming that the ministry’s plan aims to teach history in the most effective way, not to ‘declare death’ to history.

However, Hien could not set people’s mind at rest. Phan Huy Le, chair of the History Science Association, a renowned historian, commented that if history is integrated into other learning subjects as suggested by MOET, history will lose its position as an important learning subject in general education.

Tran Thi Vinh from the Hanoi University of Education said that there was no precedent for the action of integrating history into other learning subjects in Vietnam and the world. Commenting that this is an ‘arbitrary’ action, she pointed out that this will ‘destroy history’.

“The integration of history into ‘citizen education’ will bring serious consequences,” she warned.

In reply to historians, Ta Ngoc Tri, a member of the steering committee on renovating the curricula for general education, said history will not ‘disappear’ as people think, but it will be taught as part of social sciences. 

In other words, the teaching of history will be re-designed and adapted to the new circumstances.

However, as soon as Tri expressed his opinion, he faced such strong opposition from the audience that he had to leave the workshop later.

Harsh criticism was also shown Dinh Quang Bao, another member of the committee, who advocates integration.

“Why do you think other learning subjects all can be integrated, except history?” he questioned. “Integration does not mean ‘elimination’. This just aims to create new logic, and improve value.”

However, Le said that history needs to be considered an independent learning subject, compulsory for general education. 

A question was raised at the workshop about who will teach the integrated learning subject, which is a combination of history, citizen education and national defence & security.

Vinh pointed out that no pedagogy school in Vietnam and the world produces teachers who teach such a special subject.

NLD