Vietnamese Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan denied on April 20 that his ministry has proposed VND34 trillion ($1.6 billion) for the textbooks and curriculum reform, a project that has met strong public criticism for wasting resource. In an interview yesterday evening, Mr. Luan agreed with many senior educators that spending such the big amount of money on this project will cause a big waste amid the state budget constraints. The minister noted that the VND34 trillion was not included in the documents that were recently sent to the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee by the ministry. He also explained that the VND34 trillion was proposed by groups of experts who suggested the ministry use VND100 billion of the total sum for reforming textbooks and curriculum while the remainder will be used for training teachers, purchasing teaching equipment and other works. Regarding the repeats of the VND34 trillion by representatives at the ministry at the NA Standing Committee’s recent session and at a regular press conference, Mr. Luan admitted that it is a mistake. The minister affirmed that his agency will continue completing the textbook and curriculum reform, which will take total investment into consideration, and then hold conferences to seek public ideas for it before submitting to the NA for approval. (www.chinhphu.vn [1] Apr 20, Quan Doi Nhan Dan – People’s Army Apr 21 p4, Ha Noi Moi – New Hanoi Apr 21 p2)
