VietNamNet Bridge – Tests have been organized in all localities nationwide to
find out the real qualification of general school teachers have shown surprised
results: a lot of teachers got the points below average.
A test was just organized for 5,000 teachers of the schools in Bac Ninh province
some days ago. The teachers from high continuation schools had to do 8 exam
subjects including math, physics, chemistry, literature, history, geography,
biology, and English (for non-state owned school teachers only).
About 4,000 secondary and primary school teachers had to attend the Vietnamese
language and math exams.
Only the management officers, the teachers attending the refresher courses, or
training the teams of excellent students for national competitions, and the
students aged over 50 (female teachers) and 55 (male teachers).
Prior to that, similar tests were held in Vinh Phuc, Ha Tinh and Bac Giang as
requested by the Ministry of Education and Training.
A lot of teachers have been found as obtaining the points below average, which
means that they “failed the exams.” In Bac Ninh province, the number of foreign
language teachers passing the exams is so modest that it can be counted with the
fingers.
Teachers keep doubtful about the results
The test results have surprised many people, who cannot imagine that the
teachers who have been teaching for tens years, would not satisfy the basic
requirements.
Doubts have been raised about the quality of the exam organization. Who were in
charge of raising the questions for teachers? Who marked the exam papers, and
were they qualified enough to mark exam papers?
“I don’t know who raised the exam questions. All high school teachers, who teach
10th, 11th and 12th graders, had to deal with the same questions, while in fact,
each of us is just in charge of certain grades,” said Nguyen Thi Binh, a teacher
from a school in Que Vo district in Bac Ninh province.
“Since the required knowledge covers many fields, teachers could not well
prepare for the exams. If the teachers met the questions relating to their
advantageous fields, they would get good marks, and if they don’t, they would
surely get bad marks,” she explained.
A teacher, who asked to be anonymous — from Ly Tu Trong High School in Ha Tinh
province, also said that it was unfair to ask teachers to master knowledge in
many different fields.
“In principle, high school teachers must be ready to teach all the 10th, 11th
and 12th graders. However, in teaching, they can refer to textbooks, and they
can write lesson plans before they go to class,” she said. “No one can remember
all the things, especially the events and figures in history.”
“How can you remember how many enemies the Vietnamese army could kill in every
battle and what localities they battles took place?” she continued.
Local education departments have affirmed that the test results would be just
for reference, while they would not lead to the changes in the assessments about
teachers’ capability. However, the results still have caused a headache to
teachers.
A teacher of the Ngo Gia Tu High School in Bac Ninh province, who is proud of
his knowledge, now feels ashamed because of the bad marks she received from the
exams. Especially, the students of the school have become doubtful about her
knowledge.
Nguoi Dua Tin