HÀ NỘI  – The Ministry of Education and Training has issued a circular on evaluating schoolwork of primary students.

The new circular 22 revises some items of circular 30 released in August 2014  which was expected to make a breakthrough in primary education but was unpopular among education managers, teachers, and parents.

The main point of the circular asked teachers to comment on student’s work without giving marks. This aimed to make students feel at ease at school and help parents understand their children’s capability.

According to education managers, the circular was successful.

Minister Phùng Ngọc Nhạ said that two years after implementing the document, positive results have been recorded. Students were more dynamic and creative in their study. However, some constraints remained.

However, teachers didn’t agree the circular was a success.       

A survey conducted by the Vietnam Association for Educational Psychology Science of 630 teachers and 30 headmasters of primary schools in five cities and provinces, including Hà Nội, Hải Dương, Hòa Bình, Phú Thọ and Đà Nẵng found that teachers don’t like the new regulation, reported online newspaper Vietnamnet.vn.

Under the circular, a student’s study achievements were based on several factors, including their capacity to study and their learning progress. But the assessment criteria was murky, putting pressure on teachers.

The survey showed that 64 per cent of teachers think the circular ‘has made students lazier’, while 63.6 per cent say it ‘does not encourage students to make bigger efforts to better themselves in learning’.

Answering the question about student learning results after the circular was issued, 40 per cent said results were worse, while 48.6 percent said results were the same.

The circular gave teachers more work as they had to spend time writing comments on students and doing more paper work.

The online newspaper said that it took one primary school teacher 92 minutes a day at least to write their comments. But teachers’ comments were not appreciated by parents because the comments were deemed nonsense and useless.

 “The comments like ‘you need to make bigger efforts’, ‘you have made progress recently’, or ‘you write carelessly’ cannot help students recognise their strengths and weaknesses,” Nguyễn Kế Hào from the Hà Nội University of Education told the newspaper.

“The circular doesn’t create teaching and learning motivation for teachers or students, and does not allow differentiation between the ability of learners. If MOET does not adjust the circular, this will lead to a decline in quality of an entire generation of students.”

Revision

To overcome the shortcomings of circular 30, the ministry has issued circular 22.

Per the new circular, evaluations will be based on specific targets on knowledge and capacity for pupils.

The evaluation will be based on periodical tests. The teachers will notify parents of their children’s results after each test.

Many teachers praised the new circular.

“I agree with the new circular that evaluation will a combination of comments and tests”, said Lê Thanh Hà, a teacher of primary school in Quảng Ngãi Province.

The circular also helps reduce paperwork for teachers. The new circular requires teachers to write comments in the study book records at the end of each semester instead of every day at present.

“Honestly, for the past two years, we were tired of writing too many comments and doing so much paperwork”, teacher Chu Thanh Huyền from Lê Văn Tám School in Hà Nội, told Việt Nam News.

The new circular will be come into effect on November 6 this year. -  VNS