After 2015, primary school students would have 37 learning weeks instead of 35 as currently, while they would have only three subjects instead of eight. The Vietnam Education Research Institute has proposed to re-design the curriculums for primary school students, believing that Vietnam should follow the “integrated and differentiated education” instead of the current education mechanism which focuses on providing academic knowledge to students. First graders now have 8 learning subjects, including math, Vietnamese language, morality, nature and society, music, arts, handicraft, physical exercises, and two collective education activities. However, under the education reform program, after 2015, they would only have three learning subjects – math, Vietnamese language and “Cuoc song quanh ta” (life around us) which is believed to be a learning subject which provides integrated natural and social knowledge. Besides, there would also be four education activities – arts, physical exercises, collective activities and optional activities. The second graders would have one more subject – morality, while Cuoc song quanh ta would be replaced with “The nature and society.” When they enter the third grade, they would begin learning foreign languages. The fourth and fifth graders would have six learning subjects and four education activities at maximum. The curricula suggested by the education institute are believed to be reasonable, which meets the Ministry of Education and Training’s (MOET) requirement on easing the overly heavy workload on students. Vietnam has vowed to carry out a reform to shift from an education focusing on providing knowledge to an education aiming to help develop students’ comprehensive abilities and virtues. Under the reform, according to Do Ngoc Thong, Deputy Director of the Secondary Education Department under MOET, the curriculums would be designed in a way that allows to integrate knowledge for lower graders and differentiate learning domains in higher grades. People’s Teacher Ho Sy Dam, senior lecturer of the Hanoi National University, also emphasized the need for the integrated and differentiated education. He said though the new teaching method would be challenging, Vietnam has no other choice than accept it. The biggest problem Vietnam is facing now is that it lacks a professional staff to compile textbooks for students. According to Professor Dinh Quang Bao, unlike other countries in the world, Vietnam does not have any institute or center which specializes in compiling textbooks. In other words, there are no professional textbook compilers. The majority of the authors are the university lecturers or general school teachers, who write book based on the experiences they draw from their teaching. The authors are believed to have deep knowledge on their fields, but lack pedagogical knowledge. Dam also thinks that it would be feasible to apply the integrated teaching model for primary schools, while it would be more difficult for secondary schools because of the lack of qualified textbook compilers and teaching staff. According to Dr. Bui Manh Hung from the HCM City University of Education, the MOET’s viewpoint on textbook compilation has approached to the growing tendency of the most advanced education systems in the world. He believes that Vietnam should refer to the South Korean education model when designing the curriculums for first and second graders. (VietnamNet Nov 9)
