It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Education and Training has recently launched the campaign Say no to exam fraud and exaggerated achievements in education.    

Honest teaching and studying is a normal activity of the education sector. So why should this now be emphasised? For a long time there has been widespread acceptance of the sector’s final report after each school year which says more than 90 percent of the candidates pass graduation exams. Many students and their parents have the incorrect view that after 12 school years students need a certain graduation certificate as “a passport” to enter a new life. Meanwhile, school achievements are based on the proportion of students passing year-end and graduation exams. From that point of view, families use all available means to get a certificate for their children, as do schools to get “nice” figures in their year-end reports.    

Let’s return to the objectives of the education sector. They are “to increase people’s knowledge, train human resources and nurture talents”. These objectives are achieved only when the motto: “Teach honestly and study honestly” is realised successfully. By studying honestly, the students will have motivation for learning so that they will achieve good results and have necessary qualifications to embark upon their new phase. By teaching honestly, teachers will be motivated to improve teaching methodologies and stimulate students’ creativity.

An ancient Greek philosopher once said that teaching does not mean filling up the tank with oil, but rekindling the flame of knowledge. Therefore, teachers’ tasks are to rekindle the flame of thirst for knowledge and creativity among their students.

By subscribing to the motto “honest teaching and studying”, it is hoped that a greater flame of knowledge will be rekindled in the near future and the country will have a plentiful knowledge-based labour force.