Education should create kind, happy and socially responsible people.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Xuan Nhi, Permanent Vice President of the Association of Vietnamese Universities and Colleges, former Deputy Minister of Education and Training, said that proper education is to help learners become good people, live decently, happily and be responsible to society.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Xuan Nhi believes that education must create people who live decently, happily and are responsible to society. (Source: KTĐT)

With the determination to arouse the aspiration to develop a prosperous and happy country, the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress sets specific goals for 2025, 2030 and 2045. Specific goals for 2025, the 50th anniversary of the complete liberation of the South and national reunification: To be a developing country with modern industry, surpassing the low middle income level. By 2030, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party: To be a developing country with modern industry, with high middle income. By 2045, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: To become a developed, high-income country.

The World and Vietnam Newspaper had an interview with Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Xuan Nhi, Permanent Vice President of the Association of Vietnamese Universities and Colleges, former Deputy Minister of Education and Training, on the issue of real learning and real exams to create talented people in the future, contributing to the development and prosperity of the country.

We must consider real learning and real exams as urgent matters.

During a meeting with the Ministry of Education and Training, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized the story of “real learning, real exams, real talent”. What is your perspective on the importance of this issue in our country today?

I think the Prime Minister's direction is very important because teaching and learning is essential to equip learners with the necessary knowledge to help themselves and society develop. If we do not study truly, teach truly, and test truly, we are deceiving ourselves and are harmful to society. In fact, if we do not study truly, we will not have enough knowledge to help ourselves develop. That is why the education sector must make people understand that studying truly, teaching truly, and testing truly are urgent issues to evaluate knowledge and train people with good qualities.

According to you, why is this issue of such concern in today's society?

In fact, many people today do not understand how important real learning, real teaching, and real testing are and what benefits they bring. Many people think that children should study a lot to become talented people in the future, so they try to cram and give their children extra classes, which is a wrong point of view.

I think that in today's era, it is even more necessary to promote the slogan "First learn etiquette, then learn culture", to teach people etiquette, to be human, to live kindly, to teach culture. Proper education is to help students become good people, to live kindly, happily, and to be responsible to society.

To overcome difficulties and achieve the goal of "Real learning, real exams, real talent", what solutions do you think are needed?

This story has been repeated for many years. This is a difficult problem but we must solve it. In my opinion, the State must have a policy of investing in education appropriately. In particular, it must pay attention to training teachers with enough qualifications and qualities, who are good examples. But besides that, there must be strict sanctions.

"Policy and environment are both important factors, but we must understand that education is not social welfare but a suitable investment. We must understand the point of view that education is an investment and according to calculations, currently there is no investment that is as "profitable" as investing in education."

First of all, to do this, the education sector must fight against the disease of achievement at all levels, from low to high. The Prime Minister's statement is like a bell, forcing everyone to think responsibly and join in to eliminate falsehood in education.

The problem lies in education, how to make teachers understand the necessity of teaching, learning and taking exams. At the same time, we need to invest more in teachers to have conditions, ensure their living conditions, so that they can wholeheartedly devote themselves to their educational career in the spirit that teachers must be for their beloved students, bringing real knowledge and wisdom to students. In addition, we need to promote moral education for teachers, especially in pedagogical schools. Training teachers from thinking to action must be creative examples, continuous learning.

To have quality, kind and happy educational "products"

Can you share the criteria for evaluating an educational product to be considered "kind and happy" in today's era?

People often say that a country with “golden forests and silver seas” will have the conditions to develop, how to exploit these resources. But in the age of technology, the problem now is intelligence. That is, we need intelligent people who understand what Industry 4.0 is, and know how to apply technology in work as well as in life.

Nowadays, society is becoming more and more digital. If we do not have knowledge, how can we live in society 4.0? When the government issues a digitalization policy, an important standard for people is to know how to use smartphones, technology, and the Internet, to understand what the 4.0 Industrial Revolution is, and to equip themselves with the necessary and basic knowledge to develop in today's society.

PGS. TS. Trần Xuân Nhĩ và góc nhìn về nền giáo dục thực học

We need to pay attention to teachers' lives so that they can devote themselves to their profession. (Photo: Nguyen Trang)

In your opinion, what factors make up a decent and happy educational product?

Back to the issue of having to study for real, teach for real and take real exams to create people - educational products of quality, kindness and happiness. That is an extremely important factor from perception to action. Young people must study for real to become competent people; teach for real to make people knowledgeable, live decently, from that knowledge can create real value, help society improve. Understanding the factors of studying for real, taking real exams, teaching for real in this society is the key to creating real, quality, competent educational products in the future.

It is the real learning and real exams that make people and society better in modern society, make the country develop day by day as President Ho Chi Minh once said, we must find a way to make our country stand shoulder to shoulder with the world. The Party's Resolution also sets the goal that by 2045, our country must become a high-income country. Those are the factors that I think education must aim for now because real learning and real exams are extremely important to create real talent.

So how to ensure that educational products not only impart knowledge but also nurture the soul and morality of learners?

The problem is also in education. How to make teachers understand the importance of real teaching, real learning and real testing. At the same time, invest more in teachers to have the conditions so that they can devote themselves to their education career in the spirit that teachers must love their students, teach in a way that brings real knowledge and understanding to students.

Besides, it is necessary to promote moral education for teachers, especially in teacher training schools, which train teachers who, from thinking to acting, must be creative examples. Education is concerned with these issues because teachers are good examples, they will certainly teach truthfully.

So what is the role of policies, mechanisms and educational environment in promoting the creation of kind and happy educational products, sir?

Real learning, real exams, real talent are talking about the learners, as for the managers, let's learn from the world, learn from what they have done well. Broadly speaking, Resolution No. 29-NQ/TW defines a very correct direction, but in the process of operation, the disease of achievement distorts it. For example, the resolution states that what belongs to one group must belong to one group, but the current education management is divided into separate parts, one part is for the Ministry of Education and Training, the other part is for the General Department of Vocational Education (Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs) to manage, so there are instructions in different directions.

In my opinion, policy and environment are both important factors, but we must understand that education is not social welfare but a suitable investment. We must understand the point of view that education is an investment and according to calculations, currently there is no investment that is as “profitable” as investing in education.

Nowadays, it is important to train people to understand the issues of high technology and creativity. In my opinion, to achieve such goals, our policies must calculate and invest in education appropriately.

UNESCO has identified four pillars of education: Learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be. This is considered a relatively concise educational philosophy, suitable for the education of many countries in the world. Learning to know means learning for oneself, it cannot be fake. Knowing will then lead to action, creating wealth for society, helping oneself and society to progress. Learning to live together is learning to be human, knowing how to live and behave in family relationships as well as in society.

Thus, the main task of education is to provide people and society with useful and necessary knowledge. If young people have a profession that they can master, they will surely succeed and bring glory, just like the proverb "One skill mastered, one life of glory". Exams are used to evaluate people's level and qualifications. Therefore, cheating in exams is very dangerous, creating faulty educational products in the future.

Thank you!

Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son shared: “Real learning or real learning in terms of content is an education that teaches people knowledge, skills, qualities, ethics, and creates real capacity, that is, what learners can use for work, for a living, for life, for the country... Real learning and real exams are first and foremost the work of the education sector but also of the whole society. If everyone is united for real education, for a quality life and the development of the country, then one of the first things that the whole society will do together is to all work together for real learning.”

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