How many subjects are enough for high school students?

In developed countries, high school students study four to five subjects, while Vietnamese students have 14.

Tran Thi Tam Dan, former chair of the NA’s Committee for Culture, Education, the Youth and Children, said that Vietnamese high school students have too many subjects, both compulsory and optional.

She said in developed countries, students can choose five subjects. This is because students in the last years at general school need to receive more knowledge about the fields they will follow in the future. These could be basic sciences, economics majors, technical subjects or culture and the arts.

Dan believes that morality lessons should be provided to students before they enter the 12th grade. Seniors should be given more time to focus on subjects that will be useful for their future jobs.

 Nguyen Minh Thuyet, a former NA deputy, and Prof Nguyen Lan Dung, a renowned scientist and educator, complained that Vietnamese students have to take on too many subjects.

Dung said they don’t have time to focus on the fields they are interested in. As a result, they have general knowledge in all fields, but don’t have deep knowledge in major subjects.

He believes that MOET should allow 11th and 12th graders to choose learning subjects.

As for 10th graders, they will have 13 subjects. However, three major subjects – math, literature and foreign languages – will be taught throughout academic year. The other subjects will be taught in certain periods.

What will teachers do if they don’t have teaching hours for 10th graders? Thuyet said it is necessary to change the view about the division of labor.

“At present, teachers only give lessons to grades they are assigned to. In principle, teachers who finish pedagogy universities are eligible to teach all 10th, 11th and 12th graders,” he said.

“We believe that each student only needs to learn five subjects. Besides the subjects useful for their future jobs, they can choose other subjects that fit their hobbies and strong points,” Thuyet said.

With five subjects, the students who don’t plan to continue studying at universities after finishing high school will be able to find jobs in the future.

Phan Tuyet, a teacher, in an article on Giao Duc Viet Nam, wrote that having too many learning subjects will hinder students to focus on the learning subjects which they have advantages to develop their future jobs.

Kim Chi / vietnamnet