VietNamNet Bridge – Many Vietnamese parents complain that the general school curricula is too extensive, even though many students receive excellent marks.

Hoang Hong Hoa, a parent in Ho Chi Minh City, said her colleagues congratulated her when her daughter was awarded the title of “excellent student” after the 2013-2014 academic year.

However, Hoa said the compliments did not mean much because most of her daughter’s classmates were also deemed “excellent”.

“The monitor told us at the parents’ meeting last week that 98 percent, or 49 students, had been called ‘excellent students’, while only one received a ‘good student’ title,” Hoa said.

She told her colleagues, most of whom have no children in school, that it was very difficult to find weak students because all the Vietnamese students were “excellent”.

“Parents nowadays only feel satisfied when their children get a 9 or 10 mark for school work. They beat children if the children get an 8 and feel ashamed if the children get a 6 or 7, even though the marks are above average, which means ‘not bad’,” she said.

Is it true that Vietnamese students are that excellent? “No,” an educator said. “It is really disturbing that Vietnamese students are so abnormally good”.

The educator pointed out that the high percentage of excellent students is the “product of the problematic education” in which the so-called “achievement disease” prevails.

Educators, instead of providing knowledge and helping students discover their real capabilities, have been deceiving students by giving them marks that don’t reflect their true abilities.

The educator, who declined to be named, said students were under pressure from their parents to become “excellent”, and become the pride of their parents.

“In other words, they have to wear a large coat that their parents put on them,” he said.

A teacher in Hanoi said “achievement disease” is caused by the parents.

“Teachers have been criticized for this. But in fact, we are just the victims,” she said. “Parents always want their children to be the best.”

Local newspapers several days ago reported that the parents of students at a school in Can Tho City denounced teachers for giving difficult math questions to students at the year-end exams.

The parents were furious because only three-quarters of the students got 9-10 marks, while they believed that the questions should have suited students’ capability so they could get a 10.

“The thing parents want is that their children get good marks at school, not the improvement of their children’s learning capability,” the teacher said.

In many cases, teachers dare not give bad marks to students because the students could be the children or nephews of VIPs.

They also could be criticized by the schools’ management boards, who could rate their teaching skills as poor because of their students’ low marks.

Kim Chi