Representatives from education departments attend the conference in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Tùng

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc praised the efforts of the country's high schools revealing discipline was better, community awareness better and overall, exam security had improved. 

He was speaking yesterday at a national online conference held in Hà Nội by the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET).

Its aim was to review the last school year and look ahead to the coming 12 months.

All 63 provinces and cities across the country joined the online conference.

But there was room for improvement.

The conference was told vocational guidance at schools was not effective, because many students and their parents do not realise the importance and meaning of vocational training.

In a meeting held at the beginning of this year, Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Đào Ngọc Dung said a lot of students prefer going to universities instead of vocational schools because they believe they will find job.

But many end up struggling to find employment, while vocational positions were difficult to fill.

Minister of Education and Training Phùng Xuân Nhạ told the conference that often students choose careers based on family pressure.

Information about labour market opportunities was not updated regularly whereas career guidance at schools was not renewed.

The country lacked strong policies to improve career guidance and encourage students to join vocational education schools, said Nhạ.

After listening to reports from different provinces and cities, PM Phúc said the national high school graduation exam this year was in better order and discipline among pupils improve, creating belief in the community.

Two Vietnamese universities are ranked among the top 1,000 universities in the world by the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings and seven universities were ranked among best ones in Asia.

It was great efforts, Phúc said.

Nearly 15,000 new classrooms, more than 38,000 clean water systems and about 60,000 toilets were built during the school year of 2018-19.

More than 23,000 more kindergarten teachers were enrolled for 19 provinces and cities to meet demand. As many as 5,000 e-lectures were also compiled.

However, the PM said, the education and training sector still had several limitations.

Students in many places must travel far to attend school. And many students quit with others being disruptive in the classroom.

Important measures

Speaking about important duty and measures for the coming year, PM Phúc asked provinces and cities to re-arrange the school system to help students study.

More land must be allocated to build schools and resolve kindergarten shortage in industrial zones.

“Education universities must train students into educators, not ‘teaching workers’ and training must be in line with professional refresher education,” he said.

Phúc asked the sector to set up plans to give more teacher training to better implement the new curriculum.

The MoET should also check civic education curriculum in teachers' training schools, and civic education should be inserted in different subjects, not only at schools but also through other creative activities, such as visiting martyrs’ cemetery and visiting people who have helped the nation and poor residents.

Phúc emphasised that teachers must be the most valuable examples of good behaviour and morals for students.

Organisations are responsible for going together with schools in training students' virtuous behaviour.

Phúc assigned the MoET to compile instructions about civic education and social skills education at school. These should be submitted to the Government for approval and issued before the new school year, which will start in September.

PM Phúc also asked provinces and cities to focus on training high-quality human resources.

The MoET should promote policies for universities to implement autonomy, and be responsible for inspecting and supervising the universities based on regulations.

The role of study promotion societies should be upheld and more attention should be paid to education in mountainous areas, he said.

The State would ensure schools receive good material and suitable policies for teachers and students in remote areas to prevent gaps between urban and rural and mountainous areas.

“No children are to be left behind due to poor condition,” he said. — VNS