Vietnam: What are the current prerequisites and structure of textbooks?

What are the current prerequisites and structure of textbooks in Vietnam?

Under Chapter 2 provisions on standards and procedures for compiling and revising textbooks issued with Circular 33/2017/TT-BGDDT, the regulations are as follows:

Prerequisites for textbooks

- The content and appearance of textbooks shall comply with regulations of Vietnamese laws and the national standards for publications.

- The content and appearance of textbooks shall not discriminate against ethnicities, religions, professions, genders, ages and social status;

Structure of textbooks

- A textbook shall be divided into sections, chapters or topics; have lessons, glossary and table of contents.

- A lesson in a textbook shall have the following components: introduction, knowledge of the lesson, practice and application.

What are the current prerequisites and structure of textbooks in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What is the process for compiling textbooks in Vietnam?

According to Clause 1, Article 9 of the Regulation on the standards and procedures for the compilation and revision of textbooks; standards for textbook compilers and organization and operation of the National Textbook Appraisal Council issued together with Circular 33/2017/TT-BGDDT (amended and supplemented by Clause 2, Article 1 of Circular 05/2022/TT-BGDDT), the process for compiling textbooks is specified as follows:

Step 1: The organization or individual compiling the textbook selects authors who meet the standards specified in Article 11 of Circular 33/2017/TT-BGDDT; the authors study the general education program issued by the Minister of Education and Training to prepare an overall outline, detailed outline, and compilation plan; assign tasks to the chief reviseor, reviseor-in-chief (if the book has both), and authors to ensure alignment with the workload and completion timelines to ensure the quality and progress of the textbook draft;

Step 2: The organization or individual compiles, revises, designs, and illustrates at least one lesson, organizes experimental teaching, collects feedback after the experimental teaching to complete the lesson with participation and consensus of all authors before compiling other lessons; orchestrates the compilation, revising, designing, illustrating, experimental teaching, and collection of feedback from teachers, educational managers, scientists, and educators knowledgeable in general education to evaluate the textbook draft according to the content of various clauses specified in Articles 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of Circular 33/2017/TT-BGDDT (specific requirements according to the Textbook Evaluation Criteria attached to this Circular); complete the textbook draft and submit it to the Ministry of Education and Training for evaluation;

Step 3: The Ministry of Education and Training organizes the evaluation of the textbook draft as stipulated in Chapter 4 of Circular 33/2017/TT-BGDDT;

Step 4: The organization or individual refines the textbook draft after evaluation;

Step 5: The Minister of Education and Training approves and allows the use of the textbook;

Step 6: The organization or individual compiling textbooks shall organize the publication and distribution of textbooks under the provisions of law.

What are the requirements and processes for textbook experimental teaching in Vietnam?

According to  Article 9 of the Regulation on the standards and procedures for the compilation and revision of textbooks; standards for textbook compilers and organization and operation of the National Textbook Appraisal Council issued together with Circular 33/2017/TT-BGDDT (amended and supplemented by Clause 2, Article 1 of Circular 05/2022/TT-BGDDT), the requirements and processes for textbook experimental teaching are as follows:

- For each textbook draft, select lessons that represent new types of content, methods, and modes of organizing teaching according to the subject program or educational activities; experiment with at least 10% of the total number of lessons for subjects or educational activities with 105 lessons per school year or more, at least 15% of the total number of lessons for subjects or educational activities with 70 to under 105 lessons per school year, at least 20% of the total number of lessons for other subjects or educational activities; each lesson must be experimentally taught at least twice, after the first experimental teaching, review and revise the lesson before organizing the second experimental teaching;

- The general education establishments chosen for experimental teaching must represent different regions and areas; the classes chosen for experimental teaching must belong to the grade level of the textbooks being experimented on; experimental teaching must be conducted with the entire class at a time appropriate for the students' abilities.

Teachers conducting experimental teaching and observing it must be currently teaching the subject matter of the textbooks being experimented on; each experimental teaching lesson must ensure the participation of at least three teachers who will observe and contribute feedback on the experimental lesson;

- Organizations or individuals compiling textbooks must organize the evaluation of experimental lessons according to the content of each clause (excluding the content not shown in the lesson) as stipulated in Articles 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of Circular 33/2017/TT-BGDDT (Article 8 of Circular 33/2017/TT-BGDDT is amended and supplemented by Clause 1, Article 1 of Circular 05/2022/TT-BGDDT) (specific requirements according to the Textbook Evaluation Criteria included in this Circular).