Primary school English courses inaugurated at 88 sites in Vietnam

VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) decided that the program on teaching English at the primary level will be carried out on a trial basis rather than a massive scale, during the 2010-2011 school year. However, nothing is ready, from syllabuses, to teachers to material facilities.

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MOET organised a conference on September 11 to kick-start the primary school English program. The aim is to teach English early so that, upon finishing primary school, students will have A1.3 level, equal to Movers of Cambridge ESOL.

According to Associate Professor Nguyen Loc, Deputy Head of the Vietnam Education Science Research Institute, in the immediate time, Vietnam will need 1700-2000 teachers, while it will need 2000 more each year afterward.

Deputy Minister of MOET Nguyen Vinh Hien explained that, starting this school year, the 10-year English teaching program will begin and next year English classes will begin on a massive scale.

Only 88 schools in 18 provinces and cities nationwide have been selected to pilot the English program this year. In each area, 4-8 schools will take part.

MOET has compiled a set of documents for teaching English at primary schools and also offered guidance on its implementation. Hien suggested that instructors could also use teaching documents they have found to be effective, provided that they can meet the program’s goals.

The lack of qualified teachers is the biggest problem. Of 147 English teachers who joined the test, only 28 teachers earned 550 or higher on TOEFL, and 88 made more than 400. Meanwhile, under current regulations, to teach English at schools during the trial period, teachers need to a TOEFL score of 550.

Le Tien Thanh, Director of MOET’s Primary Education Department, confirmed that, for now, teachers without the required scores will be allowed to teach, but they need to achieve a 550 by next year. Hien agreed, revealing that teachers with scores of 400 and higher will be accepted this year.

Nevertheless, general schools have complained that MOET”s requirements are overly high. Vo Thi Lan, Headmaster of Dang Giang Primary School in Hai Phong City said that in order to be able to teach English at primary schools, teachers must graduate junior college or university, and obtain a 550 on the TOEFL or a 6.0 on the IELTS. “This is really a very high requirement, especially when English teachers are hired under contracts with schools (meaning the teachers will not get their salaries from the state budget).

“English teachers need to be made regular members of the staff and listed on the payroll,” Lan suggested.

Schools also complained they are facing difficulties in arranging standardized classrooms to serve English courses. With tight budgets, schools cannot be supplied with enough textbooks, documents and audio-visual equipment.

Nguyen Thi Minh Tam, Principal of Pha Lai 2 Primary School in Hai Duong province, observed that, to teach English effectively, language labs are necessary. Despite great efforts, her school still has no such lab and the current English classroom remains poorly-equipped.

In response, Hien noted that the ministry will help teachers improve their knowledge, but warned that teachers need to try to improve themselves rather than relying on the ministry.

Source: Dan tri