Difficulties for preschool children to get acquainted with English

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PUBLIC AND INDEPENDENT, PRIVATE CLASS

At the workshop to evaluate the results of organizing English classes for preschool children according to Circular 50/2020/TT-BGDDT held yesterday morning, January 12, organized by the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, the reported data showed that in the 2023-2024 school year, Ho Chi Minh City has 449 public preschools out of a total of 474 schools for preschool children to get acquainted with English, a rate of 94.72%. This rate in non-public schools is 50.9%. In private independent preschools, the rate is lower, only 20.7%.

Preschool children in some English familiarization activities

If we calculate the total percentage of preschool children in Ho Chi Minh City who participate in English familiarization programs, the whole city reaches 57.3%.

Ms. Le Thuy My Chau, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, expressed concern about the fact that the number of preschools in Ho Chi Minh City is currently second only to Hanoi. There are nearly 500 public schools, more than 800 non-public preschools, and nearly 1,700 private independent preschools, but with the above number (only 57.3% of preschoolers are familiar with English - PV ), Ms. Chau said she was "a bit worried".

"Education must be equal and fair for all children. How can we increase this rate? This is a question that I think all those who are in education management must think about and have solutions for each locality," said Ms. Chau.

DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHERS AND FACILITIES

Many units said they are facing some difficulties in the source of teachers to help children get acquainted with English. Mr. Nguyen Ba Linh, an expert from the Department of Education and Training of Cu Chi District (HCMC), said that there are currently no job positions for English teachers at preschool level in public facilities, and the hiring of foreign and Vietnamese teachers must be socialized, based on contributions from parents, so it is often passive. In addition, the fee for this work is limited, leading to difficulties in contracting with units providing teachers.

According to Mr. Linh, the source of qualified teachers to meet the needs of preschool children with English is still limited because very few teachers have received appropriate training in English teaching, or they have not attended a training course to improve their English teaching skills for preschool children.

Ms. Luong Thi Hong Diep, Head of the Preschool Education Department, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, said that preschool children are getting acquainted with English effectively. However, Ms. Diep admitted that there are still difficulties. For example, the number of children participating in English familiarization at independent group classes is low, because the facilities do not ensure the conditions for organization. Preschool children in suburban districts from near-poor households do not collect organization fees, leading to children not having the opportunity to access foreign languages. Or in some schools and classes, the number of children in an hour of English familiarization activities is still large, affecting the quality of teaching.

"Some preschools cooperate with foreign language centers to organize English classes for preschool children that are not in accordance with regulations. There is also a phenomenon where teachers at the centers lack professional training certificates in preschool education pedagogy or methods for introducing children to English organized by colleges and universities of education that train preschool teachers," said Ms. Luong Thi Hong Diep.

Preschool children in the pilot unit use the English familiarity assessment tool

Narrowing the gap

Education is equal, all children have the right to access education, ensuring fairness. Contributing opinions at the workshop, management staff and education experts proposed recommendations on how to help increase the rate of preschool children being familiar with English.

Mr. Tran Huynh Tu, Director of Education Project Business, Viettel Enterprise Solutions Company, a branch of the Telecommunications Industry Group, shared the application of technology and robots to support children to get acquainted with English in preschools. According to Mr. Tu, the application of technology, integrating the English familiarization program of the Ministry of Education and Training helps the system digitize lectures, integrate robots, apps, interactive lectures, AI applications... Thereby helping to promote the strengths of teachers, helping children get acquainted with English with many activities with the support of preschool teachers, creating fairness for all children to participate.

The results obtained help facilities evaluate the quality, adjust and orient the methods and plans being implemented for preschool children to get acquainted with English according to available conditions and in accordance with the needs of parents. As in the past, with the permission of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, this unit has piloted a survey of the results of activities to familiarize preschool children with English at 3 schools: City Kindergarten; South Saigon Kindergarten and City 19/5 Kindergarten.

According to Mr. James Moran, Academic Director of EMG Education (a private educational organization), the assessment tool must ensure criteria such as closely following the guidelines of Circular 50 of the Ministry of Education and Training; based on international assessment standards and focusing on developing age-appropriate assessment tools. In addition, interaction and vivid visual activities help children maintain their attention, while making the survey more fun and interesting...

MUST STRENGTHEN INSPECTION AND MANAGEMENT

Figures show that Ho Chi Minh City currently has more than 180 units (more than 50 companies, more than 150 foreign language centers) coordinating to implement programs for preschool children to get acquainted with English in preschools and other forms. Ms. Le Thuy My Chau affirmed that in the story of children getting acquainted with English, there is a great responsibility of those working in state management. Circular 50 of the Ministry of Education and Training is the legal basis, but implementation is the coordination and responsibility of the Department of Education and Training, foreign language centers and schools.

Foreign language centers need to pay attention to their teaching staff, helping native and foreign teachers understand Vietnamese culture to be suitable when teaching children. The Department of Education and Training must strengthen quality control, carefully check the capacity profile, teaching staff, programs as well as develop plans locally. Ms. Chau noted that preschools also need to survey needs, collect opinions from parents as a basis for implementing the program.

Need tools to evaluate children's English proficiency

Speaking at the workshop, Mr. James Moran, Academic Director of EMG Education, said that besides organizing programs for children to get acquainted with English, the evaluation of results is equally important.

There is a need for a survey toolkit to assess and collect information on children's listening, speaking, pre-reading and writing skills in English based on the international standard measure, the GSE Pre-Primary Framework scale developed by Pearson education organization.

According to Mr. James Moran, the GSE Pre-Primary scale provides detailed skill standards (Can Do statements) specifically for children of pre-primary age. The skill standards in the GSE Pre-Primary framework are finely divided to suit the characteristics of preschool children in the stage of familiarizing with language, with the skill standard descriptions detailed at the highest level, knowledge stratification to demonstrate the progress of children through each stage.

In addition, this scale is also designed based on the principle of focusing on flexibility and suitability to the context of each country. Typically, for reading and writing skill standards, the scale provides optional skill standards in cases where children have not been introduced to reading and writing skills at this age according to the regulations of the national preschool education program. At that time, listening and speaking skill standards can still be applied to support teaching, organizing English familiarization activities and evaluating results.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/nhung-kho-khan-de-tre-mam-non-lam-quen-tieng-anh-185240113000005683.htm