Information from the Ministry of Education and Training proposing to allow learners at a higher level to articulate to complete the program at a lower level has created many mixed opinions.
Many people think that this is a "step backwards", reducing the value of degrees or lowering training standards. In fact, this understanding does not accurately reflect the spirit of the draft.
The essence of the above proposal is to recognize the learning results that learners have accumulated, thereby creating conditions for them to continue studying according to practical needs without having to re-learn content that has met standards.
In fact, there are many cases where they have completed part of the university program, even studied for two to three years, but due to economic conditions, family circumstances or changes in career orientation, they cannot continue to pursue a university degree.
When switching to college or vocational school, many people have to start almost from the beginning, even though they have accumulated many equivalent knowledge and skills.
This causes waste for learners, training institutions and society. The new proposal of the Ministry of Education and Training aims to solve this inadequacy.
If a student has completed the basic modules of the major at the university level and those modules meet the equivalent output standards of the college or intermediate program, then the recognition of academic results is completely reasonable.
Learners are exempted from releasing content that has met the requirements, but still must complete all missing modules and meet the output standards of the new program.
In other words, this is a mechanism to preserve and effectively use learning achievements.
This trend is also consistent with modern educational philosophy. Learning today is no longer a linear journey, starting from low to high and ending with a degree.
Workers can study many times in their lives, study in many different environments, change careers, supplement skills or return to school after many years of working.
A student who has not completed university but can get a college degree in the right major to participate in the labor market early is a more practical and effective choice than abandoning the entire learning process.
More importantly, the flexible articulation mechanism also contributes to building a learning society – where all legitimate learning outcomes are recognized and accumulated.
Modern education should not force learners to follow the path they have taken, but help them take advantage of what they have learned to continue moving forward.
That is the core spirit of the proposal being put forward by the Ministry of Education and Training for comments.
