HÀ NỘI – Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has called on the Party, State and society to work with the education sector to improve education quality, which he described as key for the country’s development.

During an online conference yesterday to review the 2015-16 academic year and launch tasks for 2016-17, the PM said investing in education is development investment, which should be prioritised in all socio-economic development plans.

He lauded the efforts of the education sector so far in enhancing the quality of both teaching and studying, which has helped ease study overload on students and improved the education infrastructure, especially in mountainous and remote areas.

He also pointed out a number of problems in the sector, including the ineffectiveness of foreign language teaching, which is leading to poor English proficiency among high school students amidst increasing international integration.

Schools don’t focus on equipping students with social skills and promoting good lifestyles, resulting in many regretful incidents in schools, he noted.

The PM also pointed to the limited efficiency of vocational and tertiary training, which has not matched the needs of the labour market, leading to large numbers of unemployed graduates and a lack of highly-qualified workers.

According to initial statistics, Việt Nam spends US$3 billion to send students to study abroad, he noted.

Post-graduate education still has various problems resulting from students’ race to achieve a diploma at all costs, foregoing a sound education, which should be immediately tackled, he stressed, attributing the problem to slow reforms of the financial mechanism for education, poor performance of education management and ineffective supervision and inspection.

Noting that the infrastructure in many schools is in bad condition, he asked the government at all levels and all sectors to stop children studying in temporary classrooms with a dilapidated toilet or even no toilet.

It is also crucial to speed up the construction of schools in industrial parks, he said.

The Government leader also urged the education sector to help form good personalities for Vietnamese students.

“Schools should teach students to comprehend and love the country’s history and tradition of safeguarding and constructing the nation, to love their fellows, to respect other people and uphold social responsibility,” he said.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy PM Vũ Đức Đam said that communication is a weakness in the education sector.

According to a report by the sector, despite economic difficulties, investment in education and training in 2016 accounted for 20 percent of total State budget spending. — VNS