VietNamNet Bridge – Tests have been organized in all localities nationwide to find out the real qualification of general school teachers have shown surprised results: a lot of teachers got the points below average.

A test was just organized for 5,000 teachers of the schools in Bac Ninh province some days ago. The teachers from high continuation schools had to do 8 exam subjects including math, physics, chemistry, literature, history, geography, biology, and English (for non-state owned school teachers only).

About 4,000 secondary and primary school teachers had to attend the Vietnamese language and math exams.

Only the management officers, the teachers attending the refresher courses, or training the teams of excellent students for national competitions, and the students aged over 50 (female teachers) and 55 (male teachers).

Prior to that, similar tests were held in Vinh Phuc, Ha Tinh and Bac Giang as requested by the Ministry of Education and Training.

A lot of teachers have been found as obtaining the points below average, which means that they “failed the exams.” In Bac Ninh province, the number of foreign language teachers passing the exams is so modest that it can be counted with the fingers.

Teachers keep doubtful about the results

The test results have surprised many people, who cannot imagine that the teachers who have been teaching for tens years, would not satisfy the basic requirements.

Doubts have been raised about the quality of the exam organization. Who were in charge of raising the questions for teachers? Who marked the exam papers, and were they qualified enough to mark exam papers?

“I don’t know who raised the exam questions. All high school teachers, who teach 10th, 11th and 12th graders, had to deal with the same questions, while in fact, each of us is just in charge of certain grades,” said Nguyen Thi Binh, a teacher from a school in Que Vo district in Bac Ninh province.

“Since the required knowledge covers many fields, teachers could not well prepare for the exams. If the teachers met the questions relating to their advantageous fields, they would get good marks, and if they don’t, they would surely get bad marks,” she explained.

A teacher, who asked to be anonymous -- from Ly Tu Trong High School in Ha Tinh province, also said that it was unfair to ask teachers to master knowledge in many different fields.

“In principle, high school teachers must be ready to teach all the 10th, 11th and 12th graders. However, in teaching, they can refer to textbooks, and they can write lesson plans before they go to class,” she said. “No one can remember all the things, especially the events and figures in history.”

“How can you remember how many enemies the Vietnamese army could kill in every battle and what localities they battles took place?” she continued.

Local education departments have affirmed that the test results would be just for reference, while they would not lead to the changes in the assessments about teachers’ capability. However, the results still have caused a headache to teachers.

A teacher of the Ngo Gia Tu High School in Bac Ninh province, who is proud of his knowledge, now feels ashamed because of the bad marks she received from the exams. Especially, the students of the school have become doubtful about her knowledge.

Nguoi Dua Tin