For many years, education has continuously talked about reducing overload, innovating methods, and developing students' qualities and abilities.
But in many places, teachers still have to spend too much time on dossiers, reports, meetings, movements, contests, and all kinds of evidence.
If these diseases cannot be solved, the requirement for "education innovation" can easily become a beautiful slogan.
At the conference summarizing the 2025-2026 school year and deploying tasks for the 2026-2027 school year of Hanoi on August 21, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Quang Hung emphasized the spirit of "reducing to increase": reducing records, reports, meetings, competitions and formal movements to increase time for teaching, professional activities and student support.
Teachers cannot be both teachers, administrative staff, running campaigns, and completing a series of reports while still having enough time to study lectures and care for each student.
If teachers want to innovate, first of all, they must return time for expertise.
The disease of achievement is one of the reasons why the pressure cannot be reduced. Schools have to chase after achievements, something that should be measured by real quality is shown by beautiful numbers and records.
More notably, the achievement disease not only makes teachers tired, but also pushes pressure down on students.
Students who should be taught to understand, explore and develop abilities may be drawn into the score spiral.
Studying to take the exam, practicing to take the exam, taking extra classes to take the exam, and then continuing to take the exam to prove the results. To reduce exam pressure, it is not possible to only reduce a few exams, but it is necessary to change the assessment method.
It is necessary to reduce unnecessary exams and competitions; increase process assessment; pay attention to the ability to apply knowledge, skills, thinking and progress of each student.
In particular, it is necessary to stop the thinking of mechanically evaluating teachers based on students' achievements.
Digital transformation and artificial intelligence can help reduce workload, but only when used for the right purpose. If technology creates more forms, more accounts, more reports, then it is not digital transformation to reduce overload, but to digitize overload.
Anything that does not directly serve teaching and learning should be boldly removed, any reports that can be integrated should be integrated, any meetings that are unnecessary should not be organized, and any contests that do not create educational value should be stopped.
Everyone agrees with saying "reduce pressure", but if you don't dare to give up unnecessary tasks, pressure will only shift from one form to another.
Teachers have to stand on the podium more than sitting in front of computers to make applications, students learn more than take exams.
