Surprise after 2 years of teaching English for free to children in Mu Cang Chai

From 2022, the iLINK project, a program to teach English through math and science for primary school students in disadvantaged areas, will begin to be implemented free of charge in Mu Cang Chai District with a planned 5-year roadmap, hoping to popularize English for students in the highlands. Recently, the project has summarized 2 years to determine the next direction.

English class for students of Mu Cang Chai district under iLINK project

SNOW PLUM

The project belongs to iSMART Company, EQuestEducation Group, using a hybrid model of in-person and online, allowing many classes and students to learn English at the same time.

When the project began, countless challenges arose, including lack of facilities, unstable internet connection, local teachers lacking experience in using technology, and the entire district having only one English teacher teaching primary school while there were thousands of primary school students...

Ms. Vu My Lan, Director of iSMART in the North, said that every semester, students are given a rigorous assessment test to check their level of understanding and progress. This not only helps assess their abilities, but also serves as a basis for improving the curriculum and teaching methods.

After only 2 years of implementation, from having almost never had access to a foreign language, now, nearly 4,000 students from 16 schools in Mu Cang Chai district have been able to learn English for 2 periods/week (1 period of English math and 1 period of English science), 114 local teachers can master the operation of connecting and interacting with devices, lectures, and teaching software.

Each year, the project evaluates the quality to improve the curriculum and approach to suit the capacity and receptivity of students in mountainous areas. The test content for the 2022-2023 school year includes math - science knowledge and familiarization with reading skills. In the 2023-2024 school year, the test content will begin to be upgraded and developed more comprehensively, including math - science along with reading, writing and listening skills.

Although the program was very new, the results surprised everyone. All students in Mu Cang Chai District completed the tests. The students' skills and knowledge, ability to interact and keep up with the lectures have improved significantly compared to last year, especially the 4th graders.

In the 2023-2024 school year, the number of students scoring 7 or higher and completing well increased by over 30%, the number of students scoring below average decreased significantly compared to the 2022-2023 school year. In particular, in grade 4, the number of students scoring 9 and 10 increased by nearly 50% after 1 school year.

More than just numbers

Sharing with Thanh Nien reporter, Mr. Nguyen Anh Thuy, Head of the Department of Education and Training of Mu Cang Chai district, said that the whole district only has 1 English teacher on the payroll at the primary level. Every year, the district recruits teachers for this subject but there are no applicants. There are difficult times when it seems like a deadlock.

Therefore, Mr. Thuy acknowledged the significance of the Mu Cang Chai education sector receiving support for online English teaching combined directly from this project. "After 2 years of working with the project, the results have surprised us all. The skills of both teachers and students have changed significantly," said Mr. Thuy.

Mr. Thuy also stated the fact that Mu Cang Chai has almost no industrial development but is developing smokeless industry, green industry, and tourism industry, so English for the people is one of the very necessary issues.

With a longer-term vision, equipping children with foreign languages ​​from primary school level will create fundamental changes for the future human resources of the locality. A completely non-profit project, but brings benefits for long-term development.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bat-ngo-sau-2-nam-day-tieng-anh-mien-phi-cho-tre-em-mu-cang-chai-185240809163905792.htm