From teaching English according to the current general education program
In the 2006 General Education Program, foreign language is a compulsory subject from grades 6 to 12 (7 years). In the 2018 General Education Program, foreign language 1 is compulsory from grades 3 to 12 (10 years). Foreign language 1 includes 7 languages: English, French, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, German. In fact, nationwide, students mainly learn English, more than 95%.
Lacking teachers, students from grade 3 in Meo Vac district (Ha Giang) study English online with teachers from the "bridge" of Hanoi.
In the 2022-2023 school year, the 2018 General Education Program will begin implementation in grade 3. Many provinces are seriously lacking English teachers. Specifically, Meo Vac District (Ha Giang) has 2,609 students, divided into 76 grade 3 classes in 18 primary schools. The number of English lessons to be taught is 10,640 lessons/school year. But the whole district only has 1 primary school English teacher. Meo Vac District "asks for help" from Marie Curie School (Hanoi) to teach English online to grade 3 students in the whole district!
We accepted. After one year of study, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ha Giang Department of Education and Training assessed that we met the standards. We continued to teach this group of students for two more years, until they finished primary school.
The following generations of students, following the teaching method of Marie Curie School, were accepted by many localities to help Meo Vac district. This teaching method spread to several other provinces, overcoming the shortage of English teachers.
However, the above solution is only temporary and cannot last forever!
The core problem here is that localities do not have a source of English teachers to recruit, while there are quotas for staffing. To help Meo Vac District stabilize in the long term, I propose to the District People's Committee to train local English teachers, who will return to teach students in the district after graduating from university. The method is to combine "recruitment" and "socialization", specifically: the district recruits students to send to university to study English pedagogy, after graduating they will return to teach in the district; during university, Marie Curie School provides a scholarship of 5 million VND/student/month for 4 years of study.
The project to train English teachers for Meo Vac district (Ha Giang) has been implemented for one year (since 2023). Currently, there are 33 students in the project. Starting from 2025, graduates will return to the district to teach English. By June 2028, the project will provide the district with 33 English teachers, exceeding the target of 3 teachers.
In this way, the English teaching staff of Meo Vac district is sufficient and stable to implement the 2018 General Education Program.
Someone asked me about the connection between the English teaching support project that I am implementing and the popularization of English, making English a second language... However, in reality, those two projects only stop at helping Meo Vac district to properly implement and ensure the quality of English according to the 2018 General Education Program.
So, how to make English a second language?
Vietnam's starting point is very low.
Conclusion No. 91-KL/TW of the Politburo stated: "Universalize English to all people, make English the second language in schools".
In my opinion, this is a very big problem, not easy to do, not possible in a few decades. But we must start now. The second part of Conclusion 91 must be done first, that is, step by step "making English the second language in schools". Then "universalizing English to the whole population".
Marie Curie School students learn English with foreign teachers
To make English a second language in schools, I can outline the most basic steps as follows:
One is to legalize English: amend the Education Law and sub-law documents, stipulate that the first foreign language in general schools is English, other languages are the second foreign language (students who need it and schools with the conditions can teach it).
Second is the issue of the teaching staff, there must be a team of teachers with sufficient English proficiency in many subjects (math, physics, chemistry , biology, computer science, technology, etc.), not just English. This team of teachers can train Vietnamese people in the country or abroad. At the same time, "open the door" to attract foreign educational experts, the mechanism must be open (issuing visas and granting practice licenses).
Third, do it first, then expand it with the general spirit of doing it wherever it can first, and doing it whatever subject it can first; do not line up to advance; do not hold back or wait for each other. Encourage big cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, etc. to do it first.
In these cities, "green light" is given to some schools with conditions to teach in English some subjects such as math, physics, chemistry , biology... If taught in English, then stop teaching in Vietnamese. Subjects taught in which language (Vietnamese or English) are tested and examined (enrollment, graduation) in that language.
The fourth step is that some professions must be taught in English: universities and colleges have some majors such as information technology, semiconductor technology, maritime, aviation, tourism, hotels, etc. taught in English.
Vietnam's starting point is very low compared to the goals and requirements of Conclusion 91. From policies (laws, decrees, circulars, etc.) to practices, there are shortcomings: equating English with other foreign languages; teachers with very low or zero English proficiency; very low English output standards for high school students; inadequate facilities; uneven demand for English use in regions and fields...
Marie Curie is a private school in Hanoi, which has invested heavily in English for over 10 years, and its students' proficiency is higher than the average of public schools, far exceeding the standards of the Ministry of Education and Training. However, it has not yet met the requirement of "English as the second language in school". It is uncertain whether it will meet the requirement in 20 years.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/4-buoc-de-dua-tieng-anh-tro-thanh-ngon-ngu-thu-hai-185241011152054445.htm
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