Teachers and students exhausted from chasing achievements and scores

Discussing the socio-economic situation at the National Assembly on the morning of April 21, Deputy Chairman of the Delegate Affairs Committee Dang Ngoc Huy affirmed that education is always identified by the Party and State as a top national policy, playing a key role in sustainable development.

However, besides the remarkable results in the past time, he believes that our country's education is still facing a "chronic disease" of chasing achievements. Although this issue has been mentioned many times in the National Assembly and there are solutions from the Government and the Ministry of Education and Training, in fact in many localities, indicators such as grade enrollment rates, graduation rates, and excellent students are still reported very high while the actual quality is not commensurate.

He cited that the high school graduation rate for many years has reached over 98%, but the results of the independent competency survey show that many students graduate without critical thinking skills, lack the ability to work in groups, and lack a foundation to continue studying or working in a real environment.

Delegate Dang Ngoc Huy said that many teachers and schools are caught up in the vortex of emulation, having to beautify scores, embellish reports, not because they lack conscience but because the system forces them to be like that.

Emulation is associated with targets, targets are associated with proportions, proportions are associated with achievements, and achievements instead of reflecting the truth become pressure on each teacher, each principal, and each department of education.

Meanwhile, students have to bear the pressure to study to get high scores, not to study to understand, be creative and develop themselves. They study for grades, study to get into specialized schools, study to get certificates of merit, but do not learn how to ask questions, how to fail and stand up, how to become themselves" - he analyzed.

The delegate said that the consequences of this situation are very serious and long-term. Students lose the joy of learning truthfully, the motivation to explore; teachers are exhausted because of formality, because of reporting, because of criteria that they themselves know are meaningless; and society gradually loses faith in the quality of education.

It is time for us to return to the core values of education: teaching truthfully, learning truthfully and testing truthfully" - the delegate said.

From the above reality, he proposed that the National Assembly and the Government comprehensively reform the emulation and commendation mechanism in the education sector, with a focus on changing the way students are evaluated. Formal criteria such as passing rates and excellent student rates need to be eliminated, replaced by an assessment system based on the actual progress of learners over time.

Along with that, it is necessary to innovate the method of assessing students, valuing thinking ability, practical ability, life skills and qualities, and personality.

Along with that, the education sector needs to have a mechanism for cross-checking and independent assessment so that educational data reflects the reality and does not serve achievements. Importantly, it is to reduce administrative pressure and reporting disease for teachers.

The delegate also emphasized the role of parents and society in changing thinking, not measuring students' values by scores and titles.

Pressure will not disappear even if policies change, a cultural transformation from running for achievements to respecting real values is needed," he said.

According to Mr. Huy, the young generation of Vietnam has enough intelligence, creativity and will to reach out to the world, but what they need are not certificates of merit but an honest and humane education that helps them develop their right abilities, to help them become themselves.

A real education, real teaching, real learning, real exams will create people with real capacity and real qualities. That is the highest achievement that the country needs to aim for" - he said.

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