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Lack of cost estimate in reform project worries Vietnamese educators

Lack of cost estimate in reform project worries Vietnamese educators

Tuesday, March 25, 2014, 19:00 GMT+7

Vietnamese educators have expressed their concerns over a curriculum and textbook reform project draft prepared by the Ministry of Education and Training, as it lacks the most important component: an expense estimate.

Recently, the Vietnamese National Assembly consulted local experts regarding the draft of a project to reform school curricula and textbooks between 2015 and 2020.

The Ministry of Education and Training first proposed the project in January and then sent its draft to the National Assembly’s Committee of Culture, Education, Youth and Children.

In the draft, the first step to carry out the project is to “prepare conditions for setting up curricula and composing textbooks,” as well as “ensuring time, infrastructure, means, equipment, tools, finance…” without specifying any estimated expenses.

No other cost estimation can be found in the rest of the draft either.

Mathematics Professor Dao Trong Thi told Tuoi Tre that the National Assembly deputies would not likely be convinced by this draft unless it included an expense estimate.

“The draft of a project must always mention an expense estimate. The estimation must ensure enough money to carry out all parts of the project, and moreover must be covered by the state budget,” Prof. Thi said. “If the draft does not meet one of the two conditions, it is not feasible.”

“The new curricula and textbooks must be compatible with the abilities of the teaching team as well as the infrastructure investment. Also, the renewal must not exceed our financial abilities,” he added.

Prof. Dinh Quang Bao, a member of the renewal steering committee, said he is just in charge of the project’s content and does not know why the draft does not mention any expenses.

“I don’t know why they haven’t made an estimate, but one thing I do know is that we cannot carry out the project without money.”

According to the draft, the project will be carried out after 2014.

During the first phrase, experimental textbooks for the 1st, 6th and 10th grades will be composed.

Textbooks for the remaining grades will be created from 2016 to 2020.

After the new curricula and textbooks are evaluated, the new curricula will not be implemented for the entire country at once; it will be phased in, suiting the needs of individual schools.

After that, based on the results of the experimental curricula, the Ministry of Education and Training will decide if they approve the new curricula and textbooks.

In 2011, a proposal to reform school curricula and textbooks caused a similar stir because of its huge proposed costs.

At the time, articles criticizing the VND70 trillion (US$3.3 billion) project flooded local newspapers.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Manh Hung had to send a letter to the media to explain that the number was just an estimate and was not yet submitted for approval.

In the dispatch, Hung elaborated that half of the amount was planned to be used for school infrastructure, and the remaining portion was for school equipment.

The amount reserved to fund the new textbooks only accounted for 1/70 of the estimate, he said.

TUOITRENEWS

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