QUALITY OF EDUCATION NOT BASED ON THE NUMBER OF 'FIGHTING COCKS'
, 29/01/2016 11:01(PL) – It is necessary for us to stay alert to compliments since they can subconsciously make us have illusions about the quality of Vietnam’s education.
LTS: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has recently published global school rankings of 15-year-old students’ performance in math and science. The report shows that Vietnam ranks 12th, above countries including the U.S. and France. However, this result has aroused controversy in academia due to its comprehensibility.
According to Dr. Tran Dinh Lam, Director of the Center for Vietnamese and Southeast Asian Studies, HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities, later generations will continue to suffer consequences until we see the truth. It is very important to respect democracy. If students are afraid of “arguing” with teachers, the quality of our education will go down.
Don’t count on the number of “fighting cocks” (gifted students)
- Reporter: Do you think that the result from OECD’s report on the quality of Vietnam’s education is subjective and comprehensive?
+ Dr. Tran Dinh Lam: Let’s do a calculation to find out how many people out of the population of 90 million in Vietnam have learned or are learning at gifted schools. Since the number of “fighting cocks” is not big, their quality must be higher than the majority of the population. This is similar to the fact that soccer teams at local levels are not as good as their professional counterparts. That Vietnam had a high place in the rankings makes us happy, but we should not completely base on that to be under illusions and forget ordinary things. Should we wonder why our farmers are still poor, although Vietnam is the second-largest exporter of rice in the world? If our education system already had high quality, we would not have to reform it. Why do we have to make continuous changes in textbooks, but it seems the more we do, the worse they get? In fact, students need to be equipped with practical knowledge and skills at schools. Also, training should be synchronous and equitable so that the society can have sustainable development.
- It is said that Vietnam’s education at present only puts emphasis on conveying knowledge but is lacking in teaching life skills as well as hands-on experience, so we find it difficult to change students with knowledge into effective workforce. What’s your opinion about that?
+ They are totally right to say so. Our education has given too much weight to theory and academic achievement, which proves impractical. One’s work is due to social labor assignment; therefore, whatever job you do, it is worth respect provided that you can make ends meet. However, many of us want to have “flashy” jobs. That’s why a large number of people try to have a position in a state-owned organization with low salaries, which leads to biased judgements on occupations. Instead, we should honor private businesses which have great contributions to the society and, accordingly, change our awareness of the value of jobs as long as they can help us have good income and contribute to the social development.
Educational goal: fair and comprehensive
- How different was the educational goal in the past from that of these days?
+ The philosophy of education must be community development and social prosperity. However, in order to reach the common goal, we need to stimulate the growth of individuals and avoid imposing the majority’s opinions on the individuals’ since the former is not always true. That explains why many people have to seek for better environments for their advancement.
Our country’s education has been through various stages and influenced by many factors. I would like to mention the story of exporting rice again. Saigon did export rice 100 years ago, not until now it starts doing so. I still remember many of our good branches used to be available on the market, but now they are rare.
- In your opinion, what model should we learn from to integrate learning with practice?
+ In Europe, when doing internship in businesses, all juniors are paid 100% without being taxed. People in those countries have to pay 40-50% tax on their income, but students do not have to since they will be the society’s human resources. Most of the students spend the money travelling or doing field trips.
At universities in South Korea, students have the right to sue their professors without being afraid of suffering biased judgment. A Korean professor told me a story in which students sued the Ministry of Education since the latter had made mistakes in their tests. After the court case, a student lost. That student, however, still thought that he was right and his lawyers continued to sue. Finally, he won the case. Although the Ministry of Education in South Korea has done their best for its education, it is understandable for them to face such a risk.
Or, there is a book which indicates that Japan of 120 years ago was conservative since it followed Confucian ideology, but later it learned from Germany’s disciplines and applied Western education. They dispatched outstanding individuals to gain higher education in foreign countries in order to create a strong foundation for the country’s development up to now, which requires great will and efforts.
- You think that education needs to be comprehensive, so should Vietnam keep going or where should it start?
+ Education is also the road to a country’s development, so social education has to start from the state’s policies, which enterprises, schools and the whole society will follow. Since education requires equity, it needs large investment. South Korea used to ban private tutoring, so when a family wanted to invite someone to be a private tutor, if it was a business, it would be inspected by tax authorities; if he or she was an official, that person would be dismissed, for students from rich families were all not allowed to attend private classes. That was because they wanted the whole society to advance together, for if private tutoring is allowed, poor students, who account for the majority, will be unable to afford. At that time, if Korean people wanted their children to have private tutoring, they would have to let a teacher and his student study in a car along the streets for a few hours. However, South Korea corrected its mistakes and made progress from such an education. Up to now, South Korea and Japan are the countries which allocate the biggest budgets for education from GDP.
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The OECD index causes controversy? The newspaper Tes.co.uk has recently reported the OECD’s biggest ever school rankings. It commented that levels of basic skills evaluated by OECD, including math and science, are connected with the measurement of a nation’s economic productivity. According to Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education at OECD, the comparison of education reflected in the report this time is “the first measurement of global education quality ever”. The result revealed by OECD has provoked debate in many countries, including Vietnam. It is widely believed that if we compare the figures shown by OECD with the current circumstances of education and employment in the localities, it seems that OECD’s theory is far from the reality. Counter-arguments indicate that although math and science are essential subjects, the “cramming” policy in some Asian countries does not equip students with a foundation for their life skills and voluntary act to continue studying after the age of 15. Students try hard to learn math due to pressures of schools, teachers, textbooks and academic rankings instead of being provided favorable conditions for their natural development of thinking. The important evidence is that although some nations came in high places, the unemployment rate is still a problem difficult to be solved. NGOC NHU |
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We have paid a very high price to get a high rank in education. Bitterly, in order to have such a high place in the rankings, we have to pay a very high price. We have to sacrifice almost all the childhood of our children and so much capacity of the whole system as well as deteriorating their heath and mind. Our children have to study like “torturing” themselves with no time left for relaxing and training other skills. Most of them learn for scores and examinations by repeating what they have been taught with no creativity. Finally, our approach to evaluation also puts emphasis on knowledge by indicating whether a student has got a high score or not. I think that schools should only play a role as a foundation for students. In other words, students should not be forced to learn too much, but should be equipped with basic knowledge and methodology which will help build up scientifically logical thinking. For outstanding students, we need to have a different teaching approach and textbooks. If we are able to do these things well, many critical issues in the society, such as school bullying, domestic violence, and indifferent attitudes, will be solved. That where our education ranks compared to the rest of the world is not important, but it is necessary for us to self-evaluate and make reforms at a larger and more comprehensive level. We should not wait for a perfect model to follow, but just focus on what need to be done and changed. Reported by PHAM ANH
If our education is deserved 12th place, why do we still need to have educational reforms? Reforming education at the comprehensive level requires changing from a content-focused approach to one that equips students with skills and methodology, for these days they can learn everywhere, every time and during their entire life. In addition, we need to teach students other skills as well as life philosophies and social relationships, which receive little attention now. So, I can say immediately that our education needs more rapid and dramatic progress to catch up with the world’s, for it is falling behind. I think that it was not just a coincidence that the 8th-term Central Party had to implement a resolution on educational reform at a comprehensive level. That is because our education is stagnating. If our education ranks 12th in the world, why do we still need to reform it? And if it were the case, international students would come to study in Vietnam. Reported by HY HA
There’s a big gap between education and working There is a big gap between the quality of education and practical needs. Generally speaking, besides lack of working experience, young people these days are not good at problem-solving skills as well as lacking critical thinking and practical skills. Apart from those who are outstanding with their own experiences and self-development, businesses have to spend time training the majority. For example, some candidates for the program of our apprentice administrators are really excellent, but the number is very small. Sadly, most of them used to study abroad. When interviewed, many candidates only talk about out-of-date theories. When asked about practical experiences, they just say something very general. And when put in a specific situation, they fail to find a solution. Education is partly responsible for that, but that also results from their own mistake. We have to self-study and self-experience what schools do not provide us.
The majority of new graduates lack communication skills. I realize that communication skills are what most newly-graduated students are not good at. The typical characteristic I have found is immaturity. I have met up with young people in their early twenties, even at the age of 25-26, but they are not really grown up. They are embarrassed and do not know how to address other people appropriately. They are not confident in answering other people’s questions and raise their own ones. Above all, they do not have an orientation for their own career. We have come to universities to hunt for excellent students and realized that only 10% of them really know what they want to do and will do in the future, whereas the rest just study what their parents wish. Many of them do not realize that their major is not suitable for themselves until they are in the 2nd or 3rd year. Importantly, there have been more and more selection and competitiveness among laborers. Let’s take my company as an example. Besides Vietnamese students, we also recruit those who have studied abroad and even foreigners. We notice a great difference between a Vietnamese candidate and a foreign one when interviewing them. Many foreign candidates are very good at Vietnamese and have both knowledge and soft skills, but they accept equal salaries to a Vietnamese’s, so we will choose them for sure. Also, between an experienced person who commands high salaries and a new graduate asking for low wages, we always recruit the former, since we need to have one more instructor if we choose the latter. |
Dr. NGUYEN CAM, Director of the Center for Instructional Technology, Institute for Educational Research, HCMC University of Pedagogy:
Prof. VU MINH GIANG, Vietnam National University – Hanoi:
Mr. NGUYEN KHAC THANH DAT, Former CEO of Prudential Vietnam Assurance Private Ltd. and Director General of Tam Thuc Moi NLP Training Company:
Ms. NGUYEN THI THU GIAO, Director of Human Resource, Diageo Vietnam Co., Ltd.:(Read the Vietnamese article by YEN TRANG here.)
(Translated by Nguyen Khoa Nam)
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