On December 31, at the 31st session of the Kien Giang Provincial People's Council, delegate Phan Thi Ngoc Cam questioned the Director of the Provincial Department of Education and Training.
Currently, the teaching and learning situation according to the 2018 General Education Program (new) is very difficult for schools, teachers and students in Giong Rieng district in particular and Kien Giang province in general. According to Resolution No. 125 of the People's Council of Kien Giang province on the decision on investment policy for the Project on teaching and learning equipment for grades 3, 4, 7, 10 and natural science classes (Junior High School); Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Technology classrooms (High School) of the 2018 General Education Program, after completing the project to purchase equipment for grades 3, 4, 7 and 10, the minimum rate of teaching equipment for the entire sector in the province will reach about 75%. Up to now, some schools have not received teaching equipment.
Second, the minimum facilities and teaching equipment required for grades 5, 8, 9, 11, and 12 are still lacking, while they should have been implemented for the upper grades at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year. This directly affects the quality of education.
Ms. Cam raised the question, why has the teaching equipment for all levels of education according to the 2018 General Education Program not been deployed synchronously to localities for the project of purchasing equipment for grades 3, 4, 7 and 10 and why is the timely investment in minimum teaching equipment still lacking according to regulations for grades 5, 8, 9, 11, 12?
Responding to this issue, Director of Kien Giang Department of Education and Training Tran Quang Bao said: The implementation of the Equipment Procurement Project has been completed. Minimum teaching and learning equipment for grades 3, 4, 7, 10 and natural science equipment (Junior High School); Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Technology classrooms (High School) of the 2018 General Education Program have been handed over to public educational institutions throughout the province. Basically, by December 30, 2024, the minimum teaching equipment of the 2018 General Education Program will meet 75% according to the regulations of the Circulars.
The implementation of the Project to purchase equipment for grades 3, 4, 7 and 10 is slow compared to the urgent needs of educational institutions. However, during the implementation of the Project, it is necessary to strictly comply with the provisions of the law on public investment procedures, and to ensure legal procedures and documents. Therefore, the Project must go through many steps, through many intermediary appraisal agencies to submit to the competent authority for approval of the investment decision, approval of the contractor selection plan, and organization of bidding, etc.
In addition, during the implementation of the Project, the new Bidding Law and new regulations issued in 2024 such as: Government Decree, Circular of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, etc. It can be said that the Education and Training sector has made efforts to coordinate with relevant agencies and has brought equipment to educational institutions as quickly as possible.
Investing in minimum equipment according to Circulars 37, 38, 39/2021-TT-BGDDT for grades 5, 8, 9, 11, 12 is really necessary to ensure good implementation of the 2018 General Education Program and improve the quality of education in Kien Giang province. Currently, grades 5, 8, 9, 11, 12 of the 2024-2025 school year have finished the first semester but have not yet purchased the above equipment.
In implementing the 2018 General Education Program, the Department of Education and Training has advised the Provincial People's Committee to issue a plan. The Department of Education and Training has estimated the minimum cost of purchasing teaching equipment according to the Circulars of the Ministry of Education and Training at about 375 billion VND. Up to now, the budget allocated for purchasing equipment for grades 3, 4, 7, and 13 is 150 billion VND, equivalent to 40% of the proposed budget.
