HCM City aims high in teaching foreign languages to school children
Ho Chi Minh City wants 50 percent of high school graduates attaining certifiable international standard proficiency in foreign languages by 2020, according to the city Department of Education.
A foreign languages teaching centre in HCM City. (Source: VUS)
HCM City (VNS/VNA) — Ho Chi Minh City wants 50percent of high school graduates attaining certifiable international standardproficiency in foreign languages by 2020, according to the city Department ofEducation.
It has instructed educational establishments to undertakeactivities like setting up a ‘test bank’, conducting online tests ofinternational standards for students and using native-standard teachers toimprove the quality of teaching.
According to the department, it has allowed nearly 20foreign language centres to tie up with schools for teaching English, andassessed their teachers for skill.
It has published information about these centres on itswebsite.
At a conference held last May to review the teaching ofmaths and science in English, Nguyen Van Hieu, the department’s deputy chief,said learning English from native teachers was vital for global integration.
Because of the large need for native teachers, thedepartment is ready to make policies to enable native speakers to teach atschools, according to Hieu.
The department has instructed district education divisionsand schools to take the initiative to improve the quality of English teaching.
Le Hoai Nam, the department’s deputy head, told a conferenceon developing an international standard workforce for the city by 2030 thatteaching English was an important step in creating a high-quality humanresource base.
The city has many different English teaching programmes.
Under the 2008-20 national project called “Teaching andLearning Foreign Languages in the National Education System”, children aretaught English from first grade whereas in the rest of the country it starts inthird grade.
There is one called “Intensive English courses” and the oneto teach maths and sciences in English.
For teaching English in the 2019-20 school year, thedepartment requires primary schools to develop an environment for students touse English easily. In the city, 94.5 percent of primary school students learnEnglish.
Schools are also required to use IT to teach foreignlanguages, including English.
HCM City is among the cities whose students get high scoresin English in the national high school graduation examination, according to SaiCong Hong, deputy head of the ministry's Education Quality Management Agency.-VNS/VNA
Foreign-language instruction could greatly improve the quality of the educational system, but language-proficiency outcomes in recent years have been disappointing, Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha has said.
he Ministry of Home Affairs is drafting a national programme on foreign language training for cadres and civil servants to help them improve their language proficiency and performance at work.
The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee held a seminar on August 15 to discuss workforce training in accordance with international standards for the 2020 – 2030 period.
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Vietnamese Consul General in Fukuoka Vu Chi Mai highlighted the growing demand for Vietnamese workers in Kyushu, especially in Fukuoka, Oita, and Saga prefectures. Currently, the region employs about 35,000 Vietnamese manual workers and over 5,000 IT engineers.
In Vietnam’s case, she said, President Ho Chi Minh demonstrated his strategic vision by founding the revolutionary press a century ago. The late leader understood the press's role not only as a means to reflect the country’s realities but also as a powerful tool to strengthen national unity and inspire the resistance wars and national construction process.
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Today, the press for foreign service has evolved into a distinct, irreplaceable force, bridging Vietnam with the world and portraying a nation that is stable, peace-loving, and fully integrated into the international community.
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The VNA delegation, led by General Director Vu Viet Trang, actively participated in the event, engaging in both professional and diplomatic activities.
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Granma and the VNA have great potential for cooperation, especially in sharing content regularly, so that VNA products are published on Granma platforms and vice versa, thereby helping Cuban and Vietnamese people access true information and gain a deep understanding of each other's country and people.
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The strategic product, managed and operated by the Vietnam News Agency Digital Media Centre (VNA Media), is an official channel for popularising the Party and State’s information and documents as well as delivering mainstream and trustworthy news to both domestic and international audiences through various kinds of multimedia formats.
Since President Ho Chi Minh founded Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper in 1925, the Vietnamese revolutionary press has become the voice of the people. During the resistance war against the colonialists, journalists took great personal risks to inspire patriotism and the will of rising up against foreign invaders.
The total investment exceeded 319 billion VND (12.2 million USD), including over 261 billion VND from the state budget and 57.5 billion VND mobilised from businesses, organisations, and individuals.
A foreign languages teaching centre in HCM City. (Source: VUS) 
