The amended Education Law was ratified by the National Assembly in mid-June 2019. It stipulates that there can be more than one set of textbooks for every subject. The compilation of textbooks will not use money from the state.

According to Nguyen Minh Thuyet, chief editor of the new general education program, four to five organizations have organized the compilation of textbooks for first, second and sixth grades, while the drafts of textbooks for first grades have been completed, awaiting approval.

Under the current laws, the textbooks compiled by organizations and individuals must be examined by a national council before they are put into use.

At a working sesison with experts, Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha emphasized the need for compiling high-quality textbooks for the new general education program.

According to Thai Van Tai, acting director of the Primary Education Department, authors and publishing houses have been informed about the appraisal of textbooks for the first grade and they have prepared drafts to send to the ministry for appraisal.

To Quoc reported that at least two publishing houses have sent drafts for consideration.

Under the plan, from the end of July to mid-September 2019, textbook appraisal councils will work and then submit textbook drafts to the Minister for approval. The new education program implementation will begin from the first grade (2020-2021 academic year), second grade (2021-2022), third, seventh and 10thgrades (2022-2023), fourth, eighth, eleventh grades (2023-2024) and fifth, ninth and 12th grades (2024-2025).

Before the amended Education Law came out, MOET five years ago was assigned to compile textbooks for grades from first to 12th. The National Assembly’s Resolution No 88 on general education program and textbook renovation was released in November 2014. However, MOET has said it cannot do this.

Vietnam has a big budget for the compilation and appraisal of textbooks for the new general education program. It includes World Bank funding of $16 million.

In principle, only high-quality textbooks will hit the market, because all textbooks must undergo the examination of the national appraisal council. However, some people still have doubts about the quality of textbooks. They say they wonder if the appraisal council is reliable.

MOET’s Deputy Minister Nguyen Huu Do commented that the quality of the national textbook appraisal council will determine the quality of textbooks.

Meanwhile, the existence of many textbook compilers is thought to create unhealthy competition. Publishing houses will have to compete with each other to attract qualified authors.

Mai Lan 

Primary schools and teachers not ready for new general education curriculum

The new general education programme issued by the Ministry of Education and Training at the end of last year will be applied for the 2020-21 school year.