Mobilizing resources to implement digital transformation and teach English in schools

Taking place on the afternoon of October 3 at the Ministry of Education and Training , the seminar was chaired by Permanent Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong. Also attending were representatives of leaders of departments and divisions under the Ministry of Education and Training; representatives of leaders of Departments of Education and Training, universities; organizations and businesses related to education in the fields of technology and English.

Two important task groups

Opening the discussion, Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong said: The Politburo has issued Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in education and training development.

In Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW, the tasks and solutions for "comprehensive digital transformation, popularization and strong application of digital technology and artificial intelligence in education and training" clearly state: Improve digital capacity and artificial intelligence standards for learners and teachers at all levels, incorporate them into educational programs associated with promoting creative and experiential activities. Have policies to encourage and mobilize businesses and higher education institutions to participate in training teachers and learners in digital capacity and artificial intelligence.

The tasks and solutions for “focusing on building a team of teachers, standard school facilities, improving the quality of preschool and general education” require: Strengthening the teaching and learning of foreign languages, gradually making English the second language in schools and teaching the languages of neighboring countries. Raising English standards for teachers and students at all levels; ensuring sufficient quantity and qualifications of teachers, facilities and technology, strongly applying artificial intelligence in teaching and learning English; strengthening the teaching of subjects in English in places with conditions.

From left to right in the photo: Mr. Thai Van Tai - Director of the Department of General Education; Mr. Pham Ngoc Thuong - Permanent Deputy Minister of Education and Training; Mr. Vu Minh Duc - Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers.

In recent times, these two groups of contents have been effectively implemented by the Departments of Education and Training, educational institutions from preschool, general education, continuing education, vocational education in coordination with organizations and individuals.

However, with the revolutionary and highly actionable requirements as in Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW, at the seminar, the Deputy Minister wished to hear opinions from localities, organizations and businesses about the work that has been and is being implemented in the locality; advantages and difficulties encountered; proposed solutions to implement digital transformation, apply artificial intelligence and make English the second language in schools with higher and more sustainable results.

Mr. Vu Minh Duc - Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers.

Mr. Thai Van Tai - Director of General Education Department.

Mr. Pham Tuan Anh - Deputy Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers reported at the seminar.

Teachers are the key factor

Sharing about teacher training, Mr. Pham Tuan Anh - Deputy Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers said: With the support of UNICEF Vietnam and RMIT University Vietnam, the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers has organized for teachers and educational managers at preschool and general education levels to self-study on the TEMIS system, study online through virtual classrooms; organized 5 online sessions for 256,000 preschool and general education teachers nationwide to train their basic AI application capacity in management and teaching.

The Department has also organized research and developed a Digital Competency Framework for teachers and managers of general preschool education institutions; organized the development of documents, prepared training for core teachers on the application of artificial intelligence in management and teaching with specialized topics; built a community of teachers who are creative with AI and prepared to organize a festival of teachers who are creative with AI at the end of 2025.

For English proficiency training for teachers and educational institution managers, the Department coordinates with the Management Board of the National Foreign Language Project to receive and include in the TEMIS learning materials the training courses developed by the National Foreign Language Project, and organize training for teachers to continue to improve the foreign language teacher capacity.

From now until the end of 2025 and the following years, the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers will continue to coordinate with units, organizations, and businesses to carry out training to improve digital capacity, apply artificial intelligence, and English for teachers.

Proposing the content that he hopes to have the support of units, organizations and businesses, Mr. Pham Tuan Anh emphasized, first of all, the construction and updating of documents, digital learning materials and training to improve digital capacity, applying AI for teachers and managers of educational institutions at all levels nationwide.

Representatives of the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers also expressed their desire to have the support of organizations and businesses to develop AI tools to support teachers and managers in teaching, management, analysis and policy making. At the same time, build training courses to improve English proficiency for teachers and educational managers to make English the second language in schools; build AI tools to support teachers and educational managers to improve English proficiency at different levels.

“After the Project “Making English the second language in schools for the period 2025-2035, with a vision to 2045” is approved, a Plan will be developed to organize and implement it each year from 2026 to 2030. To carry out this task, the teaching staff is the key factor.

Therefore, English training and development for teachers needs to be given due attention, including: Training and development of English teachers to meet competency standards; training and development of teachers of some subjects in English; and improving English proficiency for teachers, managers and staff in educational institutions. In particular, applying technology and artificial intelligence is one of the key solutions," said Mr. Pham Tuan Anh.

Ho Chi Minh City is a locality that has early and effective activities to implement digital transformation, apply artificial intelligence and make English the second language in schools. Sharing the results, experiences and methods of the locality, Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, also acknowledged that making English the second language in schools requires a systematic roadmap.

Talking about the difficulties related to the team, especially to organize school activities in English, teach subjects in English, Mr. Ho Tan Minh said, there are currently no specific standards or criteria for teachers teaching science, other subjects in English, teachers organizing school activities in English. In addition, with this team, Mr. Ho Tan Minh hopes to have specific policies, or assign localities to develop specific policies.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thuan, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Dien Bien shared many difficulties of the locality in implementing digital transformation, applying artificial intelligence and making English the second language in schools. In particular, facilities and teaching equipment have not met the requirements; there is a lack of English teachers and difficulties in recruiting, especially the team teaching other subjects in English. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thuan hopes that policies for teachers in difficult areas will be paid more attention to help teachers feel secure in their work and retain good teachers in difficult areas.

The seminar received many comments from the Department of Education and Training, organizations and businesses.

Mobilizing the participation of organizations and businesses

At the seminar, organizations and businesses shared experiences and solutions for implementing digital transformation, applying artificial intelligence and making English the second language in schools. Expressing their willingness to accompany the education sector and educational institutions in implementing digital transformation, applying artificial intelligence and making English the second language in schools, many opinions proposed to coordinate with the education sector in a practical and effective manner.

Some notable proposals include: Standardizing and replicating proven models; creating a favorable and clear mechanism for localities and schools to cooperate with organizations and businesses in implementing digital transformation, applying AI, making English the second language in schools...

Thanking and acknowledging the contributions of organizations and businesses to education and training in recent years, the Deputy Minister emphasized the extremely important role of the coordination work of "3 houses": State - school - business.

In the coming time, the Deputy Minister requested that organizations and enterprises continue to properly implement regulations when deploying and coordinating implementation according to functions and tasks in digital transformation, applying artificial intelligence, and teaching English. Activities to form digital capacity, making English a second language in schools must be appropriate, not overloading students and affecting regular school hours; ensuring fairness in access to education. The Deputy Minister also mentioned the support of organizations and enterprises in program development, teacher training; maximizing the strength of each unit on the basis of equality, publicity, transparency...

Affirming that teachers are the decisive factor in the quality of education, another extremely important factor emphasized by the Deputy Minister is the awareness of the heads of agencies, units and schools. The Deputy Minister requested that leaders of the Departments of Education and Training pay attention to thoroughly grasping this; at the same time, regularly review, inspect and evaluate the results of coordination between the Department, schools and enterprises to have timely solutions to remove difficulties and obstacles.

"When students are truly identified as the center, school and business activities will go in the right direction and be effective," the Deputy Minister shared.

Regarding the functional units of the Ministry, the Deputy Minister requested to review and build institutions related to these two fields; conduct preliminary and final summaries, replicate good models and practices; advise the leaders of the Ministry of Education and Training on inspection and supervision according to functions and tasks to deploy work in the right direction and effectively.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/huy-dong-nguon-luc-trien-khai-chuyen-doi-so-day-hoc-tieng-anh-trong-nha-truong-post751002.html