School violence and teacher shortage continue to "heat up" the National Assembly

Delegate Nguyen Thi Xuan, National Assembly Delegation (NAD) of Dak Lak province, discussed with the Minister of Education and Training (MOET) about the issue of school violence. The delegate expressed agreement with the minister's response on this content, related to the numbers of school violence and the causes. However, the delegate also shared that on average, each school year, the whole country has more than 1,500 cases of school violence inside and outside of school; for every 5,200 students, there is 1 student who fights.

The delegate suggested that this issue requires the participation of the entire political system and organizations, including the Youth Union and Women's Union, and is the responsibility of the whole society and each family to contribute to ending school violence. Delegate Nguyen Thi Xuan suggested that the Government pay more attention to this issue.

Delegate To Van Tam, National Assembly Delegation of Kon Tum province, debated with the Minister of Education and Training about the role of schools and society in preventing school violence.

Delegate To Van Tam realized that although school violence is an issue that we have made many efforts to deal with, it still occurs with increasingly complex nature.

Sharing with the Minister of Education and Training about the objective issue in education, training, and fostering school ethics and culture, delegate To Van Tam said that in the current context, there are traditional cultural values ​​that are being competed with, while new values ​​are being formed and are unclear and have not been affirmed. Therefore, delegate To Van Tam said that this issue is not only of the education sector but also of the cultural sector. The cultural sector needs to have solutions to maintain and promote traditional cultural and ethical values, at the same time orient, promote, and form new cultural values ​​and what are those solutions.

Delegate Leo Thi Lich, National Assembly Delegation of Bac Giang province, said that currently the whole country is still short of 118,253 teachers at all levels, if the 10% reduction in civil servants continues, according to the answer of the Minister of Home Affairs in the question and answer session on November 7.

However, for remote areas that do not have the conditions to implement autonomy, the shortage of teachers is even more serious. Delegates asked the minister to provide solutions to solve this situation in the coming time.

Responding to the issue of school violence, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that this is a correct opinion and will be seriously accepted.

Regarding solutions to handle and prevent school violence, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that in the coming time, the ministry will increase life skills training for students when there is a risk of violence against themselves...

In addition, the Ministry of Education and Training will also strengthen skills training for teachers in charge of this issue; add specialized positions for school psychological counseling in educational institutions; increase the implementation of positive recreational activities, contributing to limiting and reducing the possibility of violence and negative issues. At the same time, promote coordination between families, schools and society in protecting children from school violence.

In particular, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son emphasized that the important step to create the foundation to solve this problem is to effectively implement the 2018 General Education Program with the goal of developing people and improving the moral character of Vietnamese people...

Previously, on the afternoon of November 7, delegate Vuong Quoc Thang (Quang Nam Province National Assembly Delegation) stated that in Report No. 508 dated October 3, 2023 sent by the Government to National Assembly delegates assessing the implementation of National Assembly resolutions on the field of education and training, on page 54, there was a self-assessment of the complicated situation of school violence. "So according to the Minister, what are the causes of this situation and what is the ministry's fundamental solution in the coming time?", delegate Thang asked.

Responding to questions about school violence, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that according to statistics, from September 1, 2021 to November 5, 2023, there were 699 cases of school violence nationwide, involving more than 2,016 students, including 854 female students, an average of 1 case of school violence for every 50 educational institutions.

According to Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son, there are many causes of school violence. Schools are responsible for detecting and handling violent situations, but teachers and principals are still confused about handling skills when discovering incidents. In addition, due to the prolonged pandemic, students study online for a long time, leading to psychological problems. The psychology of adulthood is also a contributing factor to this situation.

Another reason, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son cited statistics from the Supreme People's Court that there are 220,000 divorces every year, of which 70-80% are related to domestic violence. Students in these families can witness domestic violence, and also be abused and abandoned. Such an environment leads to a very high rate of students involved in school violence. Therefore, according to the minister, preventing domestic violence is very important.

In addition, social networks and movies related to collective violence are also the causes of school violence. The Minister of Education and Training hopes that relevant sectors will coordinate to solve this problem.

Regarding the shortage of teachers, in response to delegate Leo Thi Lich, the minister said that to solve this problem, a synchronous solution is needed. The shortage of teachers often occurs in preschools and primary schools, in remote areas, ethnic minority areas, and mountainous areas. The minister said that although in the past 5 years, we have arranged and consolidated many schools, however, this work of consolidating schools needs to continue to be implemented in many areas.

Regarding the 10% reduction in staffing, through discussions with the provinces, especially the Northwestern and Central Highlands provinces, the Minister suggested that this rate should not be set in a leveling, mechanical, and similar manner in all localities. Accordingly, for places with a larger proportion of education staff, this reduction should be considered to ensure enough teachers. For areas with better economic conditions and better socialization capabilities, there should be solutions to share with mountainous and disadvantaged provinces. In addition, there should be solutions regarding recruitment sources, preparation of recruitment sources, and input, so that when mountainous provinces and disadvantaged ethnic minority areas conduct recruitment, there will be a ready source of applicants.