HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Foreign-language instruction could greatlyimprove the quality of the educational system, but language-proficiencyoutcomes in recent years have been disappointing, Minister of Education andTraining Phung Xuan Nha has said.

The ministry had made great efforts to improve the quality of foreign-languageinstruction, but the expected goals had not been met, Nha said at a recent forumheld in Ho Chi Minh City.

Nha said that teaching needed to be improved at the primary to high schoollevels so that less time was needed to study a foreign language at tertiarylevels.

To improve teaching, schools should learn more about teaching methodologies andmaterials used by foreign-language training centres in Vietnam.

Many English teachers in Vietnamese schools were poorly qualified.

Nha said that study materials should be digitalised so that all Englishteachers could have access to them.

In addition, a system for standardised English tests should be developed tolimit the differences in scoring and assessment, Nha said.

Dang Hiep Giang of the Ministry's Department of Secondary Education saidteachers' qualifications varied from region to region. Most teachers indisadvantaged areas had lower qualifications, while the better teachers inthose areas often left for bigger cities.

Vietnam has two English-training programmes, including one for third to 12thgraders in provinces and cities with developed socio-economic conditions andthe other for sixth to 12th graders in less developed areas. Giang said theformer programme should be used in the entire country.

Nguyen Thi Mai Huu, director of the 2008-20 national project, “Teaching andLearning Foreign Languages in the National Education System”, said the averagescore on the national high school graduation exam of students who study fromthe third to 12th grades was two marks higher than those in the sixth to 12thgrade programme.

She said the ministry was setting up a pilot English programme for kindergartenchildren that might be expanded at a later date.

Sai Cong Hong, deputy head of the ministry's Education Quality ManagementAgency, said the ministry had made changes to the language programme based onan analysis of results of English scores on the national high school graduationexamination.

The results in the 2017-2019 period showed that the average score was under 5,with many students getting scores from 3 to 3.4.

Many students in provinces in the mountainous northern and Mekong Delta regionshad the lowest scores, while students in large cities such as Hanoi, Da Nang andHCM City had higher scores than the national average.

Ngyen Van Hieu, deputy head of the HCM City Department of Education andTraining, said that many students in the city had good English skills becauseof their study at foreign language training centres.

The city has nearly 700 foreign-language centres, Hieu said, adding that moststudents in the city study English at these centres.

However, some students, especially those living in outlying city districts,cannot afford the centres' fees.

Hieu said the department would offer incentives to native English-speakinginstructors to teach at local schools.

Seventy percent of English teachers in HCM City meet international standardsthanks to the city’s budget for programmes to improve teaching qualifications,according to Hieu.

Steven Happel, senior academic manager at the Vietnam USA Society English Centre,said that many expatriate teachers, however, had not received quality trainingin teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL).

"Some TEFL certificates are fantastic, while others are almostuseless," he said, adding that the best TEFL certificates feature apracticum where students receive feedback about their teaching.

The quality of newly hired expatriate teachers varied, he added.

“For teachers to become good at their profession, they need to see what goodteaching looks like. Many teachers, both foreign and Vietnamese, suffer from alack of access to these professional development activities,” Happel said. —VNS/VNA