VietNamNet Bridge – Young education experts who have received western-style education, noted that with the current unreasonable teaching methodology, Vietnam can only produce obedient workers, not creative thinkers.

Deputy director of the Hanoi Education and Training Department Pham Xuan Tien was disappointed when he did not hear any comments from the more than 700 headmasters participating in an online conference held several days ago.

The conference was organized by the department because its leaders wanted to hear from the headmasters and how they thought about a new regulation – giving comments instead of marks to primary school students.

This is a hot topic on education forums these days. A lot of teachers said on the forums and local newspapers that the new regulation “does more harm than good” and that it is not a reasonable way to assess students’ abilities.

However, no one raised their opinion at the conference.

Tien said that he knew many teachers were complaining about the new mechanism after visiting many primary schools in the city.

The silence of the headmasters could be understood in two ways. First, the school headmasters thought the new regulation was good and had nothing to complain about. Second, they did not think it was a good policy, but they did not dare to raise their objections. They either feared that they might be accused of protesting against new policies, or thought that their opinions would be ignored.

A high school teacher in Hanoi noted that he spends most of his time at conferences to “relax”.  “Expressing your opinions is not really a good idea and a good job to do,” he said. “You will not gain what you want, while you will waste your time.”

On the silence of the 700 school headmasters, the teacher said this was not a surprise.

“The education ministry instructs local education departments to fulfill tasks. The education departments, in their return, assign the tasks to schools. And then school headmasters tell teachers to do the work, or they will be punished,” he explained, adding that it would be better not to complain.

Giap Van Duong, a renowned educator in Vietnam, noted that the teachers who sat quietly at the conference are the ones who provide knowledge and give morality lessons to millions of Vietnamese students.

A parent, evoking the memories of his school days, commented that he, like the headmasters, always sat quietly in class.

“You were not encouraged to express your opinions. You would be a laughingstock and considered odd if you did not agree with the teachers and your friends,” he wrote.

Thanh Mai