Arranging educational institutions needs to be cautious, no machinery, ensuring teaching quality
Minister of Education and Training (MOET) Nguyen Kim Son recently had a working session with the People's Committee of Ninh Binh province on the organization of educational institutions according to the two-level local government model.
At the meeting, the minister requested: "The arrangement must be done carefully, with a clear roadmap, absolutely not interrupting teaching and learning activities, especially during the time students are studying in the middle of the semester. Not because of the need for arrangement but causing great disruption, affecting the learning rights of students".
At the same time, the reorganization project needs to clarify the number of focal points reduced, the number retained, the number of type conversion and the specific implementation roadmap, and fully report to the Central Government before December 31.
The Minister emphasized that the implementation of the directives of the Central Government and the Ministry of Education and Training must follow reality, not applying machinery.
The core goal of the arrangement is to organize teaching and management more effectively and conveniently, thereby improving the quality of education. Do not follow forced quotas, do not impose rigid numbers like each commune has only one school or a reduction according to the mandatory ratio - the minister noted and emphasized that the arrangement is not to reduce quantity at all costs but to achieve reasonableness and efficiency.
The Minister also affirmed that the criteria for financial autonomy are not used as a basis for the arrangement or dissolution of educational institutions. Education must be based on the principles of expertise and quality,...
During the reorganization process, it is necessary to resolutely handle facilities that are too small and not safe, facilities and quality of education, especially private nursery schools and kindergartens that do not meet the requirements. Do not merge kindergartens into general schools; do not merge primary, secondary, and high schools into one, except for existing private inter-level models.
With continuing education and vocational education, do not convert the model to vocational secondary schools simultaneously and by machine, but must wait for guidance and implementation according to a suitable roadmap.
In addition, the minister requested that localities proactively prepare for phoising preschool children from 3-5 years old, train English teachers to implement making English the second language in schools, review and effectively use staffing quotas, end the situation of staffing but not recruitment.
Hurried merger, there are 9 vice-captains
According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training, by December 19, 23 provinces and cities had reported to the Ministry of Education and Training, showing that all provinces and cities had completed the arrangement plan.
The Ministry of Education and Training assessed that some communes and wards have been merged reasonably, reducing the situation of disruption, many small-scale schools below the standard have been merged, consolidated, and converted into models. In particular, significantly reducing the number of public educational institutions that do not ensure the minimum scale according to regulations.
Initially streamlining administrative focal points and management staff. The merger has significantly reduced the number of principals, accountants, treasurers, and administrative service staff; thereby reducing management costs, saving regular expenditures to focus resources on professional activities.
The number of teachers and staff in educational institutions in the same area has been reallocated, initially overcoming the shortage and surplus of teachers in some educational institutions.
In addition to the initial results, the work of arranging public educational institutions still has many limitations in implementation, potentially affecting teaching organization and ensuring educational security.
After the arrangement, many educational institutions have classes or school scores exceeding the prescribed scale; some schools have the number of Vice Principals much higher than the prescribed quota, some schools currently have up to 9 Vice Principals (3 times more than the prescribed)....
The Ministry of Education and Training recommends that localities develop a plan to arrange educational institutions in a reasonable and effective manner, without wasting resources.
Prioritize budget allocation to renovate and upgrade facilities and teaching equipment at key schools before organizing the reception of children, students and trainees from satellite schools. Taking advantage of the surplus housing and land fund after the arrangement of administrative units to serve education; focus on renovating, repairing, upgrading or constructing additional works, fully meeting regulations on scale, location, area and in line with the long-term development orientation of educational institutions.
