Hanoi Times - National Assembly deputies focused their attention o­n how to improve education quality when grilling Deputy Prime Minister cum Minister of E&T Nguyen Thien Nhan at the first question-and-answer session o­n November 16.

In reply, the minister said the most important tasks are to improve teachers’ quality, and renew teaching methods and curricula.

According to him, the MOET has signed a number of agreements-in-principle o­n cooperation in training PhDs with partners from the UK, US, Singapore, France, Germany, Japan and the Republic of Korea. Vietnam target to have an additional 20,000 PhDs between 2008-2020, with half of them to be trained abroad, Nhan said.

He also said the education sector has compiled new textbooks for classes from the first to 11th grade, and the new textbooks for the 12th grade will be completed next year.

Nhan pledged that the education sector would make annual surveys o­n the teaching based o­n the new textbooks in order to make timely revision for any unsuitable content.

The minister also answered questions regarding investment in school construction, tuition reduction and exemption for ethnic minority students, and educational universalisation in mountainous provinces.

The same day, Finance Minister Do Van Ninh took the floor to explain the disbursement of capital for basic infrastructure and the control of market prices, which are also hot issues.

According to Mr.Ninh, the high increase of the consumer price index for the past ten months, at 8.12 percent, in comparison with that of December 2006 was due to the surge of world prices from early this year.

He said the Government has given prompt instructions o­n keeping macro economic balance, practising thrift in production, controlling prices and regulating tax rates, thus helping to restrict the price index increase in August and reduce the prices of some goods items.