VietNamNet Bridge - General schools may lack teachers in some learning subjects and have too many teachers in other subjects under a new education program administered by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET).

The ministry has asked for public opinion about the new program. Students would have compulsory and optional learning subjects, and they could choose subjects suitable to their capability and personal preferences.

High school students, for example, would have four compulsory subjects – literature (2 periods a week), math (2 periods), foreign languages (3 periods) and citizenry & the motherland (2 periods). 

As such, they would have nine periods in total for compulsory subjects, while they would have the right to decide how they would spend time on the other 19 periods – either studying natural sciences or social sciences.

This could make it difficult for general schools to arrange their teaching staff. They may lack teachers for some learning subjects which many students want study, while they may have too many teachers in other subjects which few students are interested in, Le Thi Ngoc Nhan, who has a master’s in education management, said.

Nhan noted that general schools would never be able to take the initiative in arranging their staff, because the oversupply and shortage of staff would be different in different years. 

The number of students registering to study social sciences may be high this year, but would be low in the next year.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Vinh Hien, in an interview with Tien Phong, denied that the new education program would lead to both a shortage and oversupply of teachers.

“Some teachers may have more students than others, who have fewer students,” Hien explained. “The number of students in one class would be different, 40 or 20, depending on the number of students registering to study.”

HIen also said he does not think schools can apply the new program if they have modern teaching aids.

Van Nhu Cuong, a renowned educator, has expressed worries about the role teachers will have to play when teaching integrated subjects.

An integrated subject is understood as a subject which provides general knowledge integrated from many separate subjects. Instead of studying physics, chemistry and biology in separation with three different teachers and three textbooks, students would only have one subject – natural sciences.

MOET’s Deputy Minister Nguyen Vinh Hien was asked by the national television channel VTV how many teachers would be necessary for this subject – natural sciences, and if the current physics teacher would be able to provide chemistry and biology knowledge. 

Hien said ‘yes’, explaining that the physics teacher learned chemistry and biology at their general schools, and they would just need further studies to be able to teach students.

Thanh Mai