Education minister questioned at NA

Replying to queries on whether the project will be accomplished, Minister Nha said that targets earlier set in the Project 2020 were unreachable as teaching and studying foreign languages is a big issue and requires long-term efforts. 

He admitted his responsibility in building the failed project, adding that the ministry is adjusting its approaches and objectives and will submit the revised version to the Government soon. 

However, he also pointed to a number of achievements of the projects, with the teaching and studying of English aimed for all people, not only students to create a learning society. This is a long-term process requiring specific roadmap and steps, he said. 

Regarding the problem of high unemployment rate among university graduates, and imbalance of labour supply and demand, Nha cited his ministry’s statistics as about 80 percent of university graduates have found jobs. 

He promised that the ministry will work to improve the quality of university training and support new ones, aiming to re-plan the network of universities and form groups of highly rated facilities. 

At the same time, the ministry will also tighten the management of university entrance and exit requirements by asking for their reports on the number of graduates and their ratio of employment in order to take adjustments, he said.

He pledged that his ministry will work with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) to focus on market-oriented training in a bid to tackle the imbalance in labour supply and demand. 

He stressed the need to revise the planning of training facilities system to balance the supply and demand sources, during which the quality of universities and colleges as well as their lecturers and management will be improved. 

He also pointed to the need to popularise forecast of labour market, which will serve as foundation to orient students’ future careers. He acknowledged the ministry’s poor performance in the work. 

The minister also affirmed that in the time to come, the ministry will work harder and work more closely with the MOLISA and other relevant agencies in making planning as well as popularising labour market forecast. 

Responding to the reform of high-school graduation exam towards simplicity, efficiency, pressure-free and reduced cost, Minister Nha said that as lessons were withdrawn from previous years, the 2016 exam was recognised to be improved, but still needs to be further renewed. 

Particularly, the application of the multiple choice test is a step forwards in the work, he said, adding that the ministry will continue improving the technical issue of the exams. 

He said that this method helps enhance the transparency of the exam, while testing general knowledge of students in all subjects. This preeminent method has been applied in many countries, he added. 

The ministry has made a roadmap for the reform of the exam and testing methods as well as education in general, he said, adding that the steps will be made gradually to avoid sudden changes. 

More measures will be rolled out to reduce pressures for students and teachers, he underscored.