VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Education and Training will soon be ensuring that students receive quality education by holding schools to a universal set of criteria.
The ministry's Department for Educational Quality Examination held a referendum on the ministry's first project to create and experimentally apply criteria for educational quality in high schools. 
A chemistry teacher takes a lesson at a Specialised Senior Secondary School in central Nghe An Province.
The referendum collected opinions from the managers of 25 departments of education and training that are participating in the project, undertaken by the Department for Educational Quality Examination in co-ordination with the Asia-Pacific French Centre (CREFAP).
Dr Nguyen An Ninh, the head of the department, said there were 30 criteria for the schools to apply. These include schools inspecting and supervising teachers' work; asking teachers to ensure precision and fairness in assessing students; having facilities suitable for educational activities; and applying information technology in management.
The director of Lam Dong Province's Department of Education and Training, Nguyen Thi Phuong, said she supported the application of these criteria.
"The management of education has been lacking because there's no criteria. Most school districts have had to build their own criteria as there has not been a universal set," she said.
Nguyen Van Tuan, deputy director of Nam Dinh Province Department of Education and Training, said the Ministry of Education couldn't apply such a set of standards without the input and agreement of the school districts. He asked the ministry to send official messages to cities and provinces about the project.
According to the department, about 70 schools of 25 provinces will experimentally implement the project for six months. After that, the ministry will review the pilot phase and complete the set of criteria before applying it nation-wide by the end of September.
(Source: Viet Nam News)