Continuing education prepares for the popular literacy movement.

On December 6th, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Education and Training organized the National Conference of Directors of Continuing Education Centers.

Reporting at the conference, the Director of Continuing Education (Ministry of Education and Training), Hoang Duc Minh, stated that in the 2023-2024 academic year, the country had 92 continuing education centers and 526 vocational education-continuing education centers; the number of classrooms and functional rooms in these centers was 10,658; and the number of laboratories, libraries, and computer rooms was 4,438. Basically, the physical infrastructure of these centers has now met the minimum requirements for teaching continuing education programs.

Implementing continuing education programs, in the 2023-2024 school year, the whole country mobilized 90,508 students to participate in literacy classes, an increase of nearly 2.8 times the number of students compared to the previous school year, with ethnic minority students accounting for 93.73%.

The number of learners participating in specialized courses to update knowledge and skills, and other regular training courses at community learning centers and continuing education centers, vocational education and continuing education centers is over 23 million.

However, according to the Ministry of Education and Training, although continuing education centers and vocational education-continuing education centers play an important role in building a learning society and developing human resources, there are also some limitations that need to be overcome to improve the effectiveness of these centers. These include uneven educational quality; inadequate facilities and equipment; limited ability to update and apply information technology; and a lack of effective mechanisms for monitoring and inspecting the quality of teaching and learning in some localities.

The scene at the conference.

Speaking at the conference, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son affirmed that continuing education has overcome difficulties, made efforts, and accomplished many things, but frankly stated that the innovation in continuing education is still moderate and there is much work to be done ahead. The goal is to innovate even more strongly to match the innovation of the entire sector.

Frankly pointing out that the attention given to continuing education is still at a moderate level, according to the head of the education sector, one of the immediate issues that needs to be addressed is evaluating, redefining, and re-evaluating the appropriate attitude and approach towards continuing education from the outside, inside, and from top to bottom.

As society develops, the country becomes wealthier, and living standards change, the need to learn new knowledge and skills to adapt grows even greater. Therefore, a plan for innovation in methods, management, policies, and investment in continuing education is necessary to provide the workforce for the future.

Minister Nguyen Kim Son also pointed out a series of tasks that continuing education will have to continue to play a "core" role in, such as actively implementing literacy programs and preventing relapses into illiteracy among adults; actively building a learning society, promoting lifelong learning, and preparing for the development of a Lifelong Learning Law. Along with that, it is necessary to effectively carry out the new task of preparing for the digital literacy movement, "eradicating digital illiteracy," and popularizing digital literacy; and, together with the entire education system, implement the Politburo 's conclusion to gradually make English the second language in schools…

Continuing education centers and vocational training centers need to stay very close to the local area, grasp the development strategy and human resource needs of the locality; proactively propose policies and models, boldly innovate, pilot innovations..., and prepare for the upcoming reform phase.

At the conference, leaders of the Departments of Education and Training and directors of continuing education centers exchanged information on management results, operational experiences, shared difficulties and obstacles, and proposed solutions to overcome challenges and further enhance the effectiveness of continuing education in the development of education and training and the building of a learning society and lifelong learning.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/giao-duc-thuong-xuyen-chuan-bi-cho-phong-trao-binh-dan-hoc-vu-so-xoa-mu-so-pho-cap-so-post848961.html