Premise for building a unified set of textbooks

After five years of implementation, although not all students have studied the entire 2018 General Education Program from grade 1 to grade 12, there are students who have studied all three levels of primary, secondary and high school.

First grade students at Le Dinh Chinh Primary School (Minh Phung Ward, Ho Chi Minh City) - Photo: NHU HUNG

Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW of the Politburo on "Breakthrough in education and training development" clearly stated: "Review and evaluate the implementation of the general education program; ensure the provision of a unified set of textbooks nationwide, strive to provide free textbooks to all students by 2030".

This directive affirms that, to have a unified set of textbooks, first of all, a general education program is needed that is rigorous, clear, scientific and feasible.

Initial results of the General Education Program

It can be seen that the new general education program has brought many bright spots. The shift from the goal of imparting knowledge to developing students' qualities and abilities is considered an important step forward in which communication skills, self-control, self-study... can easily be seen as remarkable changes in students when implementing the new general education program in all regions and especially in remote areas.

Students have the opportunity to choose subjects according to their interests and career orientation; many new subjects such as information technology, experiential activities - career orientation, local educational content help connect knowledge with practice.

This approach not only changes teaching methods but also encourages students to learn by themselves, solve problems by themselves, and connect knowledge with practice. Society has positively recognized these innovations, showing that the reform is necessary and in the right direction.

Limitations and shortcomings that need to be adjusted

Besides the advantages, the general education program still has some shortcomings. The biggest of which is that the system of requirements to be achieved is still general and lacks specificity. When the output standards are only general, textbook authors interpret them differently, leading to differences in difficulty between sets of books.

This makes teachers confused in determining the focus of teaching and creates unequal pressure for students and parents. The recent high school graduation exam is a typical example.

Many opinions from teachers, students and experts said that the exam questions of some subjects exceeded the required scope, while the management agency still affirmed that the exam questions followed the program. This difference shows that when the required requirements are not clear, it will cause debate and reduce social trust in the fairness of the exam.

More specifically, it is very difficult to evaluate textbooks, because the general education program is not really clear about the requirements to be achieved, which also affects the textbook evaluation process.

This is proof that when the program is not strict, the assessment of textbooks is difficult to ensure objectivity and quality. Textbooks are the direct tool to realize the program, the official learning materials of students. If the books are not synchronized with the program, it will affect teaching, testing and examination, and at the same time create pressure and confusion for teachers, students and parents.

Due to the merger of provinces and cities, geography subjects will have changes in boundaries and geographical knowledge in textbooks - Photo: NHU HUNG

Completing the general education program: Need for science and practice

To complete the general education program, it is necessary to standardize the requirements, specify the capacity levels clearly and appropriately, adjust the volume and structure of content, ensure balance between subjects and connectivity between levels of education.

The program also needs to be evaluated for feasibility, especially in the context of facilities and teaching staff in disadvantaged areas.

Curriculum review cannot be decided by one party but requires the participation of teachers, students, parents, education experts, administrators and book authors.

Teachers reflect on feasibility, students reflect on learning experiences, parents observe learning pressures and costs, experts provide scientific basis, and administrators contribute practical voices. Multi-dimensional participation helps ensure the program is both scientific and practical.

It is necessary to standardize the language requirements, collect wide-ranging opinions from participating subjects, and publicize the results for social criticism. At the same time, organize teacher training to be ready to implement the revised program, helping the program to be stable and feasible, creating a solid foundation for the development of synchronous textbooks.

To have the book set from the 2026-2027 school year

After the general education program has been reviewed and revised, the next step is to develop a unified set of textbooks. Based on the evaluation of the textbooks that have been approved and put into use in the past school years, identifying the advantages, appropriate points and points that need to be refined, the excellent books will be combined, adjusted, duplicated and outdated will be eliminated to form a unified set of textbooks.

In addition, there should be surveys to evaluate the subjects related to the use of the textbooks in the teaching and learning process as a pilot implementation of the textbooks to improve their suitability to practice during the implementation process.

The unified set of textbooks is a standard foundation, ensuring standardization, consistency, fairness and effectiveness, helping students in all regions have the same conditions to access knowledge and improve the quality of education.

At the same time, the remaining textbooks can still exist to help students and teachers refer to supplementary materials suitable for regional characteristics or individual learning needs of students and teachers. This does not break the philosophy and goals of the program but also helps students learn flexibly, develop creativity and connect knowledge with real life.

The process of building a unified set of textbooks still requires the participation of authors, teachers, education experts and publishers who have participated in the stages of approving textbooks in the past, while ensuring that the books are consistent with the curriculum, teaching methods and standardized exams according to the direction that the leaders of the Ministry of Education and Training have informed.

Synchronize curriculum, textbooks and exams

The general education program has opened up many important innovations, but the current existence shows that it is necessary to review, evaluate and comprehensively revise. This is the premise for building a unified, national standard textbook set, synchronized with the program, teaching and testing, ensuring quality, fairness and sustainable human resource development.

Combining standard textbooks with flexible supplementary textbooks will help the program ensure standards, suitability to reality, diversify learning, and improve the effectiveness of education nationwide.

TS SAI CONG HONG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tien-de-xay-dung-bo-sach-giao-khoa-thong-nhat-20250917231045203.htm