[Vnbiz] Education Reform: Education & Economic Development

[Tran Dinh Hoanh]

Dear chi Dzung & CACC,

Boss, I thought I already gave you a strategy.  Are you awake?  Have you
been drinking AGAIN? :-)

My strategy is simple and effective.  It attacks the problem head-on.  It
relies on one simple concept, which everyone in the nation
understands--Ethics.  Our people will love this strategy and will support it
strongly because it makes sense to everyone, from the PhDs to the highschool
kids, from the head of the government to the lowly farmers. It has natural
strength because it is based on the natural human yearning for excellence
and goodness.

Let me expand this one step at a time.

*First step*: Let's look at the problems in our education system.
Exchanging grade for sex, exchanging grade for expensive gifts, fake grades
in entrance exams, using grades to force students to pay for "extra courses"
outside school, selling slots in universities, nationwide systematic
cheating on exams, etc.  All these most serious problems in our education
system are ETHICAL PROBLEMS.  People simply don't care about ethics.  These
problems have nothing to do with budget, or teaching methods, or the lack of
facilities, or lack of professors with "international" PHD, or any other
thing.  They are unethical conduct.  Period.  So let's call them by their
name:  Unethical conduct.

And these problems won't go away if we increase budget or having more
"international" PhDs or changing curriculum.   (Actually having more budget
may help some teachers taking student out for sex on an automobile instead
of a scooter).  These kinds of conduct are solved by giving them the direct
medicine:  Improve our ethics.

Actually the Minister of Education has done something in that direction:
His first item on the job was to start a "Say No to Negativism" campaign
(Noi Khong Voi Tieu Cuc).  That is a campaign on ethics.  A full ethics
campaign would be more comprehensive and more positive; it would focus on
the positive side of the human psyche:  Human ethics and the human longing
for excellence.

*Second Step:*   Do you, Boss, commit yourself to being ethics?  You do
believe in being ethical?  Do you have the courage to tell everyone that "I
am ethical,"  "I try to be ethical," "I am committed to being ethical."

If you are not committed to this second step, then we will have no
strategy.  And the entire education problem cannot be solved EVER.

I am not saying that you have to be a saint.  We all are human with all
kinds of human mistakes all the time.  We all slip and fall at times.  I am
just saying that "Are you committed to act ethically?"  Your COMMITMENT is
what that counts.

*Third Step:*  Define ethics, teach ethics, promote ethics.

1.  Most of us human know what ethics is.  We don't have to define ethics
for the population.  Don't steal, don't lie, don't cheat, don't oppress the
poor and the weak, don't give our false promise, be fair, be truthful, be
honest...  Everyone in the world knows what they are.  Our problem is that
we allow unethical conduct to prosper throughout our system for years and
years and years.  We just have to start saying one simple thing:  Unethical
conduct is unacceptable.

Most people know what is ethical or unethical, but they go long
with government officials' (including teachers') unethical conduct because
the people KNOW that the government accept and allow unethical conduct. If
the people (the parents) understand clearly that the government do not
accept unethical conduct, the people may not go along with government
officials, esepcially when the unethical conduct is oppressive.

2. At the professional level, ethics should be defined and enforced.  In all
advanced countries, ethics is a major subject in any school, any program,
any organization.  Say, in the professions, we have lawyer's ethics,
engineer's ethics, doctor's ethics, business ethics.

In university education, ethics is always a mandatory subject in any
professional program--business ethics in business management, legal ethics
for law students, teacher's ethics for pedagogy students, doctor's ethics
for medical and dental students, etc.

Every profession has its code of ethics.

Every major corporation has its code of ethics.

The government has its code of ethics.

Professionals have to take ethics course often.  Say, American lawyers are
required to take continuing education courses each year, and a number of
hours for those courses have to be ethics.

I suggest that everyone do a number of Google searches on ethics: such as
"business ethics," "government ethics," "teachers ethics" "ethics education"
"What is code of ethics?"....  You will see that the advanced world is run
on human ethics.

Why are we not teaching ethics, not talking about ethics in Vietnam?

Ethics is not law.  Ethics is more demanding than law.  It is higher level
of conduct.  Most organizations in the US discipline its employees based on
the company's sense of value and ethics, even though the employee may not do
anything illegal.  Violation of a profession's ethical rule could be the
ground to revoke the license to practice that profession, even though the
violator did not do anything illegal.

Please, everyone, please spend 5 minutes, right now, and do a couple of
Google search on ethics, then you will have a much better sense about what I
am talking about.  Then we can discuss this more.

Have a great day, Dzung and all.

Hoanh
___________


On 10/18/06, Dzung Nguyen <dnguyen.lse at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> [Vietnam Business Forum]
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Dear anh Hoa`nh
>
> If I were the policy maker, I would say, Hoanh, give me a doable,
> executable plan. Don't suggest people to act ethically, because we can't
> change the world and we can't change people. Think of the things that can be
> changed, that can be done, of a plan that can be implemented. Blame the
> right person, the one in charge, do not blame everyone. Ask someone, someone
> specific to act more ethically, don't ask everyone. We depart far away from
> the era of "ho^ kha^?u hie^.u".Or at least, let's depart from it. I can feel
> your passion when you say please everyone, let's act ethically. But that's
> an irrational thing to say. If you think about it, really think about it.
>
> Again, it's just my realistic thought. You should believe in yours if you
> think it's realistic enough, though.
>
> Have a great day,
>
> Dzung
>
>
> On 10/18/06, Tran Dinh Hoanh <tdhoanh at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> > [Vietnam Business Forum]
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Dear CACC,
> >
> > Below is a good Vietnamese-language article by professor Nguyen Van Tuan
> > in Australia, entitled Education and Economic Development Strategy.
> >
> > As we read these articles on education reform, we will see many good
> > technical recommendations.  However, I think there is the most damaging and
> > most fundamental issue in education.  This issue must be solved before every
> > thing else may be solved.  And if this issue is solved, many other issues
> > may either solve themselves away or become much easier to solve.
> >
> > This fundamental issue is ETHICS.  Too many teachers act unethically.
> > Too many parents go along with unethical conduct.  Indeed, we have a serious
> > ethic problem throughout our entire government.  Too many government
> > officials, too many Party members act unethically.
> >
> > Of course, there are unethical people anywhere in the world.  But the
> > unethical level in our government and our education system is legendary.
> > This is not just higher than average.  It is so outrageously high.  If we
> > cannot solve our ethics problem, we won't be able to work ourselves out of
> > this hole.
> >
> > Several months ago, chi Tran Le Thuy raised an outstanding question:
> > "How do we teach ethics?"  and I had a long discussion on that.  I recommend
> > that we all keep thinking about this question in our personal life.
> >
> > I also suggest that each of us starts to act ethically, starts to
> > promote ethics, starts to talk about ethics, starts to teach ethics, starts
> > to speak out against unethical conduct.  Our law, our regulation, our legal
> > system will work only when we are ethical.  If we are unethical, forget out
> > law and rule and reform strategy; nothing will work then.
> >
> > Have a great day!
> >
> > Hoanh
> >
> >
> > --
> > Tran Dinh Hoanh, LLB, JD
> > Attorney of Law
> > Washington DC
> >
>
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