Da Nang speaks out about the incident of 'forcing' primary school students to learn English with foreign teachers.

Following media reports and public inquiries regarding some primary schools in Da Nang organizing English classes with foreign teachers at high tuition fees, the Department of Education and Training issued a press release to media agencies and schools on September 28th.

According to the Da Nang Department of Education and Training, in preparation for the 2023-2024 school year, the Department has issued guidelines related to organizing English language teaching with foreign teachers.

Specifically, most primary schools in the city now organize two-session-per-day teaching (some schools have not yet implemented this for 5th-grade students due to infrastructure limitations). Therefore, schools must organize teaching according to the official timetable, ensuring the minimum number of lessons per week per teacher, the minimum number of sessions per week per class, and the maximum number of lessons per day per class.

The Da Nang Department of Education and Training affirms that primary schools organizing English classes with foreign teachers is voluntary and does not force parents to register.

The Da Nang Department of Education and Training affirms that English language instruction with foreign teachers, as well as life skills training, are voluntary subjects, registered by students and their parents (not all students have this need), and therefore should only be organized outside of regular school hours and not be included in the regular timetable.

At the same time, schools should only implement and organize learning activities for students whose parents have registered them, on a voluntary basis. Suggesting or forcing students to participate is strictly prohibited. The organization process must ensure the learning rights, safety, and suitability to the students' psychological and physiological development.

In addition, schools that choose to collaborate with foreign teachers in organizing English language classes (as well as matters related to the procurement of goods and services) must comply with the regulations of the Bidding Law and related guiding documents.

" Schools are only allowed to implement these activities after developing a complete plan in accordance with the guidelines of the Department of Education and Training and obtaining approval from the district/county's Department of Education and Training. Any school that organizes these activities without prior approval or implements them incorrectly according to the approved plan is in violation ," the Department of Education and Training affirmed.

At the same time, the Department also requires the Education and Training Departments to ensure that the plan approval process is in accordance with regulations and to be responsible for checking and monitoring its implementation.

The statement emphasized: “ Currently, the Department of Education and Training is inspecting the implementation of tasks at the beginning of the school year in the district and county education departments and conducting on-site visits to some primary schools to promptly detect and address any violations...”

If schools do not rectify the violations, the Department of Education and Training will continue to conduct inspections, impose penalties, and recommend that the People's Committees of districts and counties coordinate in handling the violations according to regulations .”

Previously, some parents in Da Nang with children in grades 1 and 2 complained that schools organizing English classes with foreign teachers was inappropriate.

According to our investigation, the tuition fees charged by an English language center to primary schools in Da Nang are quite high. Specifically, for 1 lesson per week (4 lessons per month), the fee is 140,000 VND per student. For 2 lessons per week (8 lessons per month), the fee is 270,000 VND per student.

According to parents, English is an elective subject for first and second graders, and the children are only getting acquainted with it. Therefore, the English teachers are sufficient, and there is no need to have them learn with a native English speaker.

In particular, the tuition fees charged by schools for hiring foreign teachers are too high, making it unaffordable for many families.

CHAU THU

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