Digital transformation - the "magic wand" of education in Yen Bai mountainous region

Education infrastructure is of special concern to the mountainous province of Yen Bai. Photo: Duc Tuyen.

Difficulty "gives rise" initiative

The mountainous province of Yen Bai consists of 9 urban districts, with more than half of them being ethnic minorities. With its rugged terrain, sparse population, and diverse culture, education and training face many difficulties. In particular, the shortage of teachers is a difficult problem for Yen Bai, especially when applying the 2018 general education program.

Statistics from the Yen Bai education sector show that in the 2023-2024 school year, the entire Yen Bai province has over 12,300 managers and teachers. The actual teacher ratio compared to the norm for the 2023-2024 school year is only 84.2%. Compared to the requirement, Yen Bai is short of more than 2,000 teachers.

It is worth mentioning that the shortage of teachers compared to the demand only occurs in some specific subjects and in remote areas with a large ethnic minority population. In particular, districts such as Tram Tau or Mu Cang Chai are always in a state of serious shortage of foreign language teachers.

Lack of English teachers in the highlands is a difficult problem for Yen Bai. Photo: Contributor.

To solve this problem, Yen Bai province has introduced many policies to attract, support and retain teachers. However, the story of recruiting teachers for the highlands is still a daily concern for the Yen Bai education sector. In 2021, the number of registered teachers was only more than 50% of the recruitment target. Yen Bai province introduced a policy of giving 100 million VND to teachers to teach, but the number of new recruits was insignificant.

Continuing to solve the problem of teacher shortage in mountainous areas, especially English teachers, since 2022, Yen Bai province has "dispatched" dozens of teachers from lowland to highland areas. Although it is a temporary solution, in recent years, education in mountainous districts has changed significantly due to the addition of new and positive factors. Students in mountainous areas have also had access to useful knowledge and rich teaching methods.

Meanwhile, in response to the shortage of teachers in some localities, the district education and training departments have balanced, proactively transferred and effectively used human resources. A teacher being able to teach in many schools in a district with corresponding subjects has become a daily story in Mu Cang Chai. Teachers have a harder time moving around, but students will not have to “skip meals” in their studies.

Representatives of the Hai Phong Department of Education and Training surveyed teaching facilities in Yen Bai. Photo: Contributor.

In addition to policies to attract teachers or flexible transfers, Yen Bai also actively orders teacher training for subjects that are lacking. Yen Bai's cooperation and coordination with Thai Nguyen University to organize English pedagogy bachelor training in the form of local recruitment is a fundamental and long-term step.

In particular, pedagogical students who are from the highlands and wish to return to their hometowns to work will be given priority in recruitment and support in their studies. These factors possess advantages in local language and culture, and will easily integrate and commit to long-term teaching work. At the same time, students who have graduated from pedagogical majors but do not meet the qualifications will be recruited and improved, and when they meet the standards, they will become an important resource to serve the education cause in their hometowns.

Online “Magic Wand”

In the early days of implementing the 2018 general education program, Yen Bai encountered many difficulties when the number of teachers was insufficient and they could not meet the qualifications. This reality was a risk of pushing Yen Bai backward in the process of standardizing the national education system. Amidst the difficulties, the COVID-19 pandemic occurred as if adding more burden to teachers and students in the mountainous areas of Yen Bai.

In that context, to meet the needs of teaching and learning, Yen Bai has spent a lot of money to build online classrooms. The telecommunications and information technology infrastructure system has been completed, and the story of digital transformation begins here. Students in the highlands quickly have access to computers and smartphones to freely "splash around" in the digital world.

From Hai Phong, teachers impart knowledge to students in the mountainous region of Yen Bai through online classes. Photo: Contributor.

The image of Mong students in Mu Cang Chai hugging their phones to learn English with teachers from Hanoi has gradually become familiar. From the "reluctant" classes during the pandemic, many highland students have learned English and mastered IT. Up to now, many students in Mu Cang Chai have confidently communicated in English with foreigners and gradually entered the tourism industry.

Continuing those “accidental” achievements, the Yen Bai education sector has officially built online English teaching programs for students in mountainous areas. Since then, Yen Bai has proactively sought the support of high-quality teachers from localities such as Nam Dinh, Hanoi and Hai Phong in arranging teachers to teach English online for primary and secondary school students. Although the teachers are in Hai Phong and the students are in Yen Bai, online classes still take place and knowledge is transferred through digital technology.

To evaluate the cooperation model, on February 28, the Directors of the Department of Education and Training of Yen Bai province and Hai Phong city directly observed a free English teaching support class of teachers from Dinh Tien Hoang Primary School (Hong Bang - Hai Phong) for students from Che Tao Primary School (Mu Cang Chai - Yen Bai). The teacher in charge of the class was Ms. Pham Thi Xuan, a teacher from Dinh Tien Hoang Primary School, who flexibly applied teaching methods combined with information technology applications, making the classroom atmosphere of students in class 4A1, Che Tao Primary School, attractive and vibrant. Students in Yen Bai enthusiastically spoke up and answered questions, thereby helping teachers check the knowledge that students had learned and encouraging them to enthusiastically acquire new knowledge.

After the lesson, leaders of the Department of Education and Training of the two localities had an online discussion about the lesson and orientation on continuing to implement the cooperation and support of free English teaching for highland classes in Yen Bai province. Accordingly, the lesson was evaluated as successful with dedicated, responsible, creative, flexible teachers; students interacted naturally and enthusiastically. On that basis, Hai Phong continued to coordinate with Yen Bai to enhance the exchange of plans and timetables to carry out professional tasks, teach, evaluate, and comment on students in accordance with regulations to ensure the content and educational plan according to the requirements of the new program.

A teacher from Hai Phong unexpectedly came to Yen Bai to teach directly to students in the highlands. Photo: Duc Tuyen.

It is known that the Hai Phong education sector's implementation of the cooperation to support free English teaching for students in mountainous areas has been implemented for more than 2 years. Currently, a number of schools in Le Chan, Hong Bang, and Ngo Quyen districts of Hai Phong have actively participated in supporting free English teaching for 15 mountainous schools in Yen Bai province. Since the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, Hai Phong has supported teaching for 63 classes with 1,522 students, and conducted online teaching for 1,867 lessons at the primary level; 24 classes with 822 students with 720 lessons at the secondary level.

When she arrived directly at Che Tao Primary and Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities, Ms. Pham Thi Xuan - Dinh Tien Hoang Primary School (Hong Bang - Hai Phong), shared that this was not the first time she and her students met, because class 4A1 was taught English online by Ms. Xuan under the cooperation program to support online English teaching between the Department of Education of Yen Bai and Hai Phong. Ms. Xuan was surprised to witness the hardships and deprivation of the students in the mountainous areas of Yen Bai. Teaching directly to the students of class 4A1, Ms. Xuan also did it like a normal lesson, teaching the children online, at first they were still confused and shy, but later the children caught up and interacted better with her.

Mr. Luyen Huu Chung, Director of the Yen Bai Department of Education and Training, assessed that online classes have applied information technology, realized the digital transformation process, and gained the support of localities, especially high-quality teachers, helping students and the teaching staff in Yen Bai develop faster. Amidst the demand for standardizing educational programs and difficult realities, Yen Bai has transformed thanks to the flow of digital transformation. Since then, digital transformation is not a fairy tale but has become a "magic wand" to help Yen Bai solve the problem of teacher shortage in mountainous areas.

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Source: https://baophapluat.vn/chuyen-doi-so-cay-dua-than-cua-giao-duc-vung-cao-yen-bai-post549358.html