Making English the second language: National Assembly delegates worry about feasibility

National Assembly deputies expressed concerns about the feasibility of the goal that by 2030, at least 30% of preschool and general education facilities will have equipment to teach English as a second language.

The feasibility of the target of at least 30% of schools nationwide teaching English as a second language by 2030 is one of the issues that many National Assembly deputies are interested in when discussing the Investment Policy of the National Target Program on Modernizing and Improving the Quality of Education and Training for the 2026-2035 period this afternoon, December 2.

Agreeing with the policy of making English the second language in schools, delegates said that in disadvantaged areas, it is very difficult to achieve this goal. Besides, there is a shortage of English teachers while there is also a need for teachers to teach other subjects in English.

Don't level

Delegate Nguyen Thi Lan Anh (Lao Cai delegation) said that the goal of applying uniformly to all provinces and cities without distinguishing economic conditions, infrastructure and human resources is unreasonable.

Analyzing more specifically, the delegate said that currently, disadvantaged areas are facing major barriers such as teacher shortages; limited teaching capacity; budget burden for purchasing equipment and maintaining operations... Therefore, the possibility of completing the 30% target for these localities is very low, reducing the effectiveness of the policy.

To ensure feasibility, delegate Nguyen Thi Lan Anh suggested not to equalize but to divide according to the actual conditions of each region: especially difficult areas apply a rate of 20%, difficult areas 25%, the remaining areas 30%, urban areas can exceed this target.

Delegates also recommended that the State should prioritize support for training and fostering English teachers and provide funding for purchasing equipment for disadvantaged areas.

The issue of the teaching staff was also raised by delegate Tran Khanh Thu ( Hung Yen delegation) when he proposed the need to carefully assess actual conditions to ensure the feasibility of this goal.

The delegate cited the fact that the whole country lacks about 4,000 English teachers, and the average age of teachers in mountainous areas is quite high (44.2 years old), leading to difficulties in accessing new teaching methods.

In addition, there is a lack of facilities and teaching equipment in disadvantaged, remote and isolated areas. According to the delegate, when teachers do not meet the standards, investing in equipment will also lead to waste when they cannot be used.

Need to invest in developing teaching staff

To solve this problem, delegate Tran Khanh Thu recommended that there should be a specific implementation roadmap, prioritizing investment in areas with difficult facilities and increasing policies to attract teachers.

Delegate Tran Khanh Thu. (Photo: Doan Tan/VNA)

The need to invest in facilities and teaching staff along with a suitable roadmap is also the recommendation of delegate Huynh Thi Anh Suong (Quang Ngai Delegation).

According to delegate Huynh Thi Anh Suong, the goal of facilities can be achieved if enough financial resources are invested, but along with facilities, training and development must be done to have a team of teachers who meet the requirements because teachers are the decisive factor.

When teaching English as a second language, teachers not only need to have in-depth knowledge of the subject, master specialized terminology but also have good English skills. However, the number of these teachers trained in teacher training colleges is not much. This is even more of a challenge for remote areas where it is difficult to attract human resources, especially when these teachers have many job opportunities in more favorable areas.

Accordingly, delegates proposed adding a target by 2030, specifying that teachers will be trained and educated to meet the requirements of teaching in English corresponding to the target of 30% of educational institutions being supported with equipment to ensure sufficient conditions to teach English as a second language to avoid wasting resources.

According to delegate Huynh Thi Anh Suong, there are currently no textbooks for subjects in English or bilingual Vietnamese-English textbooks. Therefore, the delegate suggested that the Ministry of Education and Training research a bilingual Vietnamese-English textbook and an English version for general education institutions to choose from in accordance with the actual conditions of each unit.

This is also the issue raised by delegate Ha Anh Phuong (Phu Tho delegation). Delegate Ha Anh Phuong said that teaching English as a second language in schools is not the same as teaching English as a foreign language. The level of application of English as a second language also varies greatly between regions and school levels.

According to delegate Ha Anh Phuong, the gap in education is not only in equipment but also in the number and quality of teachers, curriculum and practice environment. Although equipment can be invested in, if there is no investment in human resources, there is a risk that equipment will go first and human resources will follow, causing waste.

Accordingly, delegates proposed adjusting the target in the draft: "By 2035, 100% of preschool and general education facilities will meet the conditions for teaching English at national standards; in which the rate of facilities implementing the English as a second language model must ensure suitability with local conditions and the goal of educational equity"./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/dua-tieng-anh-thanh-ngon-ngu-thu-2-dai-bieu-quoc-hoi-ban-khoan-tinh-kha-thi-post1080629.vnp