The Global AIEducation Race
In 2023, the Singapore Ministry of Education launched the EdTech 2030 Plan with the goal of transforming education through technology. One of the key elements of this plan is the deep integration of AI into general education, starting from primary school.
Accordingly, the Singapore Ministry of Education has built a series of AI assistants to support learning to put into schools such as math assistant FA-Math, English assistant LangFA-EL, short answer assistant ShortAnsFA for geography and science .
These AI assistants not only help students correct their work and mistakes, but also make them more actively and creatively participate in the learning process. Also through the AI assistant tool, teachers can identify students' strengths and weaknesses and adjust teaching methods in a personalized way.
Most notable is the AI-powered LMS learning management system from the National University of Singapore. Many Vietnamese high schools are using this system so that primary school students can review knowledge and do homework more effectively.
However, despite being a pioneer in integrating AI into education, Singapore is facing fierce competition in the global AI education race.
In April this year, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the White House Working Group on AI Education, with the participation of leaders from many relevant agencies. The group is tasked with bringing AI into schools, starting with kindergarten.
In early May, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced that it would incorporate AI into its core curriculum from kindergarten to high school starting in the 2025-2026 school year.
The goal, shared by UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on social network X, is "to prepare children for a new era unlike ours."
Not long ago, China made a similar announcement. Students in all schools in the capital Beijing, from primary to high school, will study AI education for a minimum of 8 hours per year starting from the 2025-2026 school year.
To make AI teaching and learning in schools effective, the country has established a flexible cooperation mechanism between schools, universities and businesses.
“Artificial intelligence is reshaping education in Asia-Pacific,” Dr. Libing Wang, Head of Education Innovation and Skills Development at the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand, said in an interview.
China and Singapore have already established policies and guidelines on “AI in education”. Japan and South Korea have also integrated AI into their general education curriculum. Meanwhile, other countries are still struggling to meet basic educational needs, temporarily putting AI education aside.
What will happen if Vietnam lags behind in the AI education race? What is immediately visible is that, without AI education from primary school, the labor market will lack human resources with AI skills while the group of cheap manual workers is redundant, pushing the unemployment rate up.
Lack of AI education also promotes the risk of brain drain as tech talent migrates to countries with strong AI ecosystems in search of comparable opportunities. Without an AI foundation, domestic businesses find it difficult to develop, let alone compete globally.
Therefore, the urgent problem not only for Vietnam's education system is to bring AI into schools for comprehensive and fundamental digital transformation.
Bringing AI into schools - strategies from pioneering schools
FPT Schools students have access to AI training programs from grade 1, with a minimum duration of 10 periods/year.
Resolution 57 of the Politburo on breakthroughs, development of science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation issued at the end of 2024 has truly created a favorable context for bringing AI into general education.
Most recently, General Secretary To Lam personally presented STEM education practice rooms to Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted and Cau Giay Secondary School, demonstrating the Party and State's strong interest and commitment to promoting science and technology training and digital transformation in schools.
In parallel, the Ministry of Education and Training is developing a strategy for applying artificial intelligence in education, aiming that by 2035, AI will become a popular tool for every learner, teacher and education manager. This strategy includes integrating AI into general education, university and vocational education programs according to a roadmap suitable for each level and subject; at the same time, developing an AI ecosystem in education, ensuring that AI is applied safely, effectively and in accordance with Vietnamese culture and education. ( ref )
At the international level, UNESCO has also issued recommendations to guide countries in integrating AI into education responsibly and effectively. These recommendations include building AI competency frameworks for teachers and students, ensuring equity and inclusion in education, and developing policies and guidelines on AI in education.
Before the national policy was issued, some general education institutions in Vietnam had proactively piloted the integration of AI in schools. For example, FPT Schools implemented the “Smart World Experience” (SMART) program from the beginning of 2024, combining international copyrighted learning materials with on-site practical activities.
According to the school representative, the AI-integrated curriculum is designed for each grade level, helping students gradually approach machine learning thinking, computer vision technology, data science and robotics. At the same time, the teaching staff is also thoroughly trained in AI tools and applications in teaching.
AI lessons are designed for each grade level, helping FPT Schools students gain early access to machine learning, computer vision, data science and robotics.
These activities demonstrate the pioneering step and “incubator” role in bringing new generation technology into general education, an important preparation step for Vietnam to not be left out of the global trend of training digital human resources.
Clearly, pioneering schools are more aware than ever of the dangers of being slow to invest in AI education. This will cause Vietnam to fall behind in the race to train technology talent, while increasing the digital skills gap in the labor market, indirectly hindering the country’s development in the long term.
Looking from these pilot models, it can be seen that: AI education in general education is not only a story of technology, but also a problem of vision, initiative and social responsibility of schools towards the future of students.
FPT
Comment (0)