Technology brings English to underserved areas.

At the same time, nearly 4,000 students in 117 classrooms from 16 schools in Mu Cang Chai district ( Yen Bai province ) are connected via a digital platform, learning English through lively and highly interactive lessons. Digital transformation has been identified as one of the solutions to improve the quality of English teaching and learning in schools.

Hanoi also faces difficulties in implementing English language teaching.

Dr. Le Duc Thuan, Head of the Education and Training Department of Ba Dinh District (Hanoi), shared that although it is a central district of the capital, there is still a disparity in the qualifications of teachers between schools and within the same school.

In addition, there is a shortage of highly qualified and experienced teachers. Currently, the 2018 General Education Program requires a larger number of teachers than the previous program, but recruitment is relatively difficult because excellent teachers and top-performing graduates sometimes choose not to pursue teaching careers but instead move on to other jobs.

Another difficulty relates to facilities and equipment for teaching and learning, including infrastructure and digital platforms. "Although the district has invested 2,300 billion VND in the last 5 years, this amount is still insufficient to meet the requirements of foreign language teaching in general, and English teaching in particular," said Mr. Le Duc Thuan.

Teaching English is even more challenging in the suburban districts of Hanoi. According to Phung Ngoc Oanh, Head of the Education and Training Department of Ba Vi District, in reality, many older English teachers in the district are hesitant to embrace innovation, limited in their ability to adopt and apply advanced teaching methods, and less capable of creating engaging and intellectually stimulating learning environments for students to express themselves.

In addition, some teachers still have limited expertise. Many students lack interest in learning and do not have effective study methods, while English requires diligence and regular practice. Many families still do not give adequate attention to investing in their children's education.

Sharing the difficulties in implementing English language teaching according to the 2018 general education program, Nguyen Anh Thuy, Head of the Education and Training Department of Mu Cang Chai district (Yen Bai province), said that despite announcing recruitment 4-5 times, the district's Education and Training Department has received almost no applications for English teacher positions.

Meanwhile, according to the 2018 General Education Program, English is a compulsory subject from grade 3. A shortage of English teachers is a common problem in many localities, especially in remote and rural areas.

Ba Vi District (Hanoi) is collaborating with other schools to train English teachers in order to improve the quality of English instruction at all levels.

Training partnerships

One of the measures chosen by Ba Vi district to improve the quality of English teaching and learning in the district is to establish a training partnership with the University of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

With the central government's direction and the strong determination of Ba Vi district to make English the second language in schools, the district's leaders have collaborated for many years with the University of Foreign Languages ​​to implement feasible solutions to improve the quality of foreign language training in the district.

Numerous training sessions and exchanges have been conducted between experts from the University of Foreign Languages ​​and English teachers from schools in Ba Vi district. The teachers have become familiar with new approaches to engaging students, such as:

Creating a foreign language learning environment, using new games to make English lessons more engaging for students...

Mu Cang Chai District has been implementing a project to teach English through Math and Science, funded by Equest Group, using digital lessons built according to the Ministry of Education and Training's curriculum framework, in a hybrid format of in-person and online instruction for over a year now.

Digital lessons are installed on computers in local classrooms. At the same time, nearly 4,000 students in 117 classrooms from 16 schools in Mu Cang Chai district are connected via a digital platform, learning English through lively, highly interactive lessons.

The lesson is taught by a highly qualified English teacher from iSMART (a unit of the EQuest Education Group) in Hanoi, with the support of 146 co-teachers in Mu Cang Chai.

According to Mr. Nguyen Anh Thuy, Head of the Education and Training Department of Mu Cang Chai district, students are being exposed to English earlier, through a completely new learning method that combines online and in-person instruction, with engaging digital lessons and high-quality teachers.

"We call it adaptability. In the long term, we aim for a generation of confident, multilingual young people in the highlands who will contribute to tourism development and attract domestic and international tourists to the area."

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/cong-nghe-dua-tieng-anh-den-vung-kho-20241211175318553.htm