Vietnam to Study Building Socialist Education Model

General Secretary and President of Vietnam, To Lam, has ordered a study into the construction of a socialist education model, with pilot implementations in eligible areas, to accelerate development in the education sector. This directive comes following a review of the first year of implementing Resolution 71 by the Politburo on breakthroughs in education and training. The General Secretary and President urged the Government to direct the Ministry of Education and Training to develop a roadmap to fundamentally address the shortage of schools, classrooms, and teachers. He emphasized the need to arrange the school network and teacher force according to population fluctuations, avoiding oversupply in some areas and shortages in others, as well as dispersed investment and "taking the goal of reducing administrative units as an achievement." Localities are tasked with resolving classroom overcrowding in urban and industrial areas, proactively planning educational land in urban development projects, and promptly converting surplus office buildings for educational and healthcare purposes. The objective is to ensure that the quality of education and students' futures are not dependent on where they are born and raised. Affirming that the Party, State, and society as a whole continue to provide the best conditions for education, the General Secretary and President requested the sector to respond with deep and comprehensive self-innovation, from school governance, building the teacher force, to content, teaching methods, examinations, and evaluation. Education must reduce one-way knowledge transfer, rote learning, "cramming" for exams, and "studying just to pass." It should increase self-study, practice, experience, independent thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills. "If the methods of examination and evaluation do not change, it will be very difficult to change the methods of teaching and learning," the conclusion stated. According to the leader of the Party and State, the ultimate goal of education is not scores, degrees, or school rankings, but rather the kind of people it educates. Therefore, students need to develop comprehensively in terms of morality, intellect, physical fitness, and aesthetics, with a focus on ethics, personality, physical and mental health, culture, history, art, national pride, and the Vietnamese language. Students also need to develop digital literacy, foreign language proficiency, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education, scientific thinking, creativity, and adaptability. The Government's Party Committee is requested to direct a realistic assessment of the 2018 General Education Program, continuing to streamline it towards practicality and reduced load. Textbooks need to be reviewed and adjusted for inadequate content, especially in subjects that directly contribute to shaping personality, patriotism, social responsibility, and aspirations for contribution, such as ethics, civics, history, Vietnamese language, and literature. The General Secretary and President also demanded strict handling of the "achievement disease," academic dishonesty, fraudulent practices in learning and examinations, disguised tutoring, negativity in admissions, training, and degree awarding, plagiarism, scientific fraud, school violence, and deviant behaviors in teacher-student relationships. Simultaneously, he called for the early implementation of preferential professional allowances for teachers. Higher education must become a center for nurturing talent, scientific research, innovation, and the creation of new knowledge and technologies. In the context of rapid AI development, the role of teachers is not diminished but needs to shift from knowledge transmitters to thought leaders, inspirers, talent spotters and developers, character educators, and guides for learners to use knowledge responsibly. The goal is not to let AI think for learners but to use this technology to enhance knowledge, thinking skills, and creativity. Source: VnExpress