Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – A new general education programme aims to overhaulcurriculum at the country’s schools, but local educators say they need moretime to roll out the changes.

The programme is scheduled to take effect during the academic year of2018-2019. But at a conference held recently to review the previous year andplan for the next, education departments in localities across the countryproposed delaying the implementation until 2019-2020.

They say more time will allow them to better prepare facilities and teachers.

Nguyen Thi Kim Chi, Director of central Nghe An province’s Department ofEducation and Training said that the department has faced difficulties inteaching staff and infrastructure when carrying out the programme, especiallyin mountainous areas.

Under the new programme, students from primary schools to high schoolswill be trained on five main qualities, including patriotism, kindness, hardwork, honesty and responsibility. Students are to develop areas such asmotivation to learn, communication and cooperation, problem-solving ability andcreativity, language and calculation skills, information technology knowledge,and physical and mental development.

The programme will be divided into two phases, a basic phase from grade one tograde nine and a profession-oriented phase from grade 10 to grade 12. Theprogramme reduces the number of subjects and divides each subject into optionaland compulsory components.

At the conference, many representatives of local departments of education andtraining said that they needed more time and guidelines to implement theprogramme.

Pham Van Hung, Director of central Thua Thien – Hue province’s Department ofEducation and Training, said that the postpone of one year would create moretime to train teachers about the new programme.

Currently, there are 1,700 teachers that need to be trained, and schools needtime to upgrade or build educational facilities suitable for the programme,which was designed with two classes per day.

Nguyen Thi Minh Giang, Director of southern Kien Giang province’sDepartment of Education and Training, said that the new programme required newcurriculum and textbooks. Thus, the ministry should implement each part of theprogramme to ensure its success and feasibility.

At the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said that the ministryshould carefully consider the programme and possibly propose that theGovernment delay its implementation.

Regardless of whether the reform programme is delayed, he said, teachers shouldreinvigorate their teaching spirit and work to improve the educational sector.

The goal of the educational system, he said, is a fundamental one: teachingstudents to be more human.-VNA