Teaching English at secondary and high schools: haste makes waste

VietNamNet Bridge – The project to teach English to secondary school students has been described as “setting many ambitious goals”. Teachers still have worries about the feasibility of the project, because they do not have much time – just 9 months – to prepare for to execute the program.

According to Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Vinh Hien, under the English teaching program to secondary school students, the teaching will be provided to students from 6^th grade, and students will have a total 420 teaching hours during secondary school.

English teaching programs will be implemented nationwide by 2020

Under the project, upon finishing secondary school, students will reach the second level in English skill standards (in all four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing). Meanwhile, students finishing high school (12^th grade) will reach the third level of English skill standards. Right from the 2011-2012 academic year, science subjects will be taught in English at gifted high schools. For the momnt teaching in English will be applied to mathematics and informatics.

Hien said that in the first stage of the program only selected schools will to carry out the program. After that, the program will be applied in all secondary and high schools nationwide.

Meanwhile, teachers remain cautious when talking about the feasibility of the project. Many experienced English teachers have worries that nine months will not be long enough to develop a high quality curriculum for teaching English for 6-12^th graders, including 420 teaching hours for secondary schools and 315 hours for high schools.

Haste makes waste

One of the most important conditions necessary to execute the program in the trial period is that schools must have teachers who can meet the set requirements. Meanwhile, educators all say that it is very difficult to find qualified teachers.

Nguyen Thanh Lich, Director of Lao Cai province’s Education and Training Department said even universities still do not have lecturers who have IELTS 6.0 English certificates, let alone secondary or high school teachers, especially in schools in small provinces.

In fact, in order to prepare for the program the Ministry of Education and Training plans to organize training courses, both in Vietnam and foreign countries, for the teachers of the schools. However, educators still warn that even if there is a good teaching and learning environment, where students can join activities to communicate in English, but there are no good teaching aids and good material facilities, the program will fail.

Headmasters of many general schools have asked the Ministry of Education and Training to set up standards for English teachers, i.e the skills teachers must have to be able to teach English at secondary and high schools. Besides, they have also urged the ministry to prepare for the program soon, saying that it is necessary to learn lessons from the English teaching program for 3^rd graders. A few days before the new school year, primary school teachers attend necessary training courses. Meanwhile, there has been no common and shared syllabus for teaching and every school has used its own methodology for teaching English.

Source: Nguoi lao dong