Proposal to review international school teachers distributing sensitive books

On the afternoon of May 3, Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said that he had requested the Ho Chi Minh City International School (ISHCMC) to recall all books with sensitive content that had been distributed to students.

In the report, the school said it had recalled 19 copies of A Glimpse of Radiance in the Human World. on May 2. The books were distributed by teachers to 11th grade students as part of a reading activity during the holiday.

"The Department requires the school to seriously correct and review and criticize the teacher, depending on the severity of the incident, for not controlling educational content leading to negative and offensive information," said Mr. Minh.

In addition, all schools in the area must review and be cautious when using non-textbook materials. The selection of reference materials is in accordance with Circular 21/2014 of the Ministry of Education and Training. In particular, the materials must be consistent with the educational program in each class; ensure scientific, accurate, pedagogical and aesthetic qualities; be suitable for the psychology of the age group; not contrary to Vietnamese culture, history, geography, morality and customs...

The incident stemmed from a post by an 11th grade parent accusing Ho Chi Minh City International School of “spiritually poisoning” her child by distributing books with obscene and pornographic content on the afternoon of May 2. The book is A Glimpse of Radiance in the Human World by author Ocean Vuong, with some excerpts describing the sexual relations of two teenagers.

Ho Chi Minh City International School said this book is on the reference reading list, including many languages, including Vietnamese, introduced by the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program. Ocean Vuong's works are also widely distributed in Vietnam.

"After receiving parents' concerns about the work, the school has withdrawn the above publications and is evaluating and reviewing the process by which the work was introduced to students," a school representative said on the evening of May 2.

A moment of brilliance in the human world is the debut novel by Vietnamese-American poet Ocean Vuong. The Vietnamese translation was published by the Writers' Association Publishing House in 2021 and won the 2022 Good Book Award in the Literature category.

ISHCMC was established in 1993 and is the first international school in Ho Chi Minh City. The school accepts students from kindergarten to high school, teaching the International Baccalaureate program with tuition fees ranging from VND255-923 million per year.