English proficiency survey of 73,000 teachers: Teachers are frustrated, not understanding why?

Students of Luong The Vinh High School, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City in English class - Photo: NHU HUNG

Sharing with Tuoi Tre reporters, many teachers said that on April 23 and 24, they spent a lot of time and effort on this English proficiency survey.

Network failure, failed

Ms. T., a teacher at a high school in Ho Chi Minh City, said that on the afternoon of April 23, according to the department's schedule, she arranged her work and did the test at home at 1:30 p.m., but it was after 2 p.m. when she was able to log in. However, after a few minutes, the connection was lost. "I called the support number but couldn't get through. When I finally got through, I only had five minutes left to do the test. I failed the test because I couldn't finish it in time," Ms. T. said indignantly.

In the same situation as Ms. T., Mr. A. also said: "The survey took two hours, but I sat waiting all afternoon. The internet kept dropping, and I couldn't get through to the phone for support. This not only affected my work but also made me frustrated."

Many teachers also said that at this time, high schools are organizing second semester exams for students, teachers are "overwhelmed" with work but still have to do English proficiency tests.

Everyone wants to "get it done" and "follow the rules" but the network problems have affected work at school and the invigilation and grading of exams for students.

"I failed the exam yesterday, so I have to retake it in a few days. Many teachers at my school are in the same situation, not knowing how to administer and grade the second semester exam," Mr. A. was upset.

The English test is too difficult!

In groups, teachers are discussing the difficulty of the English proficiency test that the Ho Chi Minh City Departmentof Education and Training is conducting. Teacher M. complained: "Looking at the Reading test, I got... vestibular disorder." Meanwhile, another teacher commented: "This test is at C1 level, so it's right that teachers don't know anything."

Another teacher also said: "I was shocked when I saw the test. The test was to test teachers' general English proficiency, but the questions were all academic with content related to psychology, biology, literature... I couldn't stand it anymore, so I gave up after about half the time."

It is worth mentioning that even English teachers find the department's competency assessment very difficult. In one case, the head of the school's English group only scored average on the assessment. Faced with such a difficult test, many teachers have to ask others to "take the test for them".

"At my school, some subject teachers asked students who were good at English to take the exam for them. Others asked native teachers to take the exam for them. As a result, the English teachers got lower results than some teachers who asked others to take the exam for them," Ms. N., a teacher, told Tuoi Tre reporter.

Sharing about this "test taking" situation, a teacher said they were "afraid of losing face and also afraid of having to retake the course".

The results are difficult to be honest.

"I am very upset with this type of survey. Online surveys allow anyone to work at any time they want, and anyone who wants to ask for support can do it, making the results dishonest and unfair. With this type of test, the survey results certainly do not reflect the English proficiency of each teacher, nor do they achieve overall honesty in the overall results of the whole city.

Therefore, I suggest that this survey must be organized centrally to be fair. If the test is conducted at home like this, those who borrow support will get good results. Those who do not receive support will not get good results. It is not fair and does not truly assess the capacity of teachers in the whole city in terms of English ability," said Ms. H., an English teacher in Ho Chi Minh City.

Mr. P., another teacher, said that in order to conduct an effective survey, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training needs to consider many factors. The first is the basis for creating the test questions. The basis for creating the test questions must be based on both the European six-level English proficiency framework and the teaching and learning of English when teachers were still in school. Both bases are needed to make accurate assessments and judgments.

In addition, the organization needs to be strict, public, and honest. Avoid cases where teachers do the test carelessly to complete the task and also avoid teachers asking others to do the test for them.

Talking to Tuoi Tre, many teachers said that the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training also needs to collect and compile statistics on international certificates that teachers have self-studied and self-trained to assess teachers' English proficiency, avoiding organizing costly exams.

It is also important to avoid leveling, generalizing, and using English as the standard. Although not achieving good results in English, many teachers can achieve good results in other languages ​​such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc.

An English class of students at Vo Van Kiet High School, District 8, Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: NHU HUNG

* Mr. Ho Tan Minh (Chief of Office of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training):

Not intended to certify or evaluate teachers

The English proficiency test is compiled by Cambridge Assessment English in a structure from easy to difficult. The system will record the level of the teachers' performance.

Specifically, the test includes listening, reading and writing skills to assess English proficiency according to the CEFR (from A1 to C2). If the teacher can do it at level A1, the system will record A1, and the same goes for other levels.

On April 24, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training received a number of comments from teachers asking to redo the survey. I would like to emphasize that the survey results are not intended to issue certificates or evaluate teachers. The survey results are known only to teachers, and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training does not seek to find out which teachers they are.

We only need to know the overall results: how many teachers have achieved A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2 levels; what is the percentage in each region (districts, counties). This will be scientific evidence for the department to develop the project "Gradually making English the second language in schools". Therefore, teachers who have already done the survey do not need to do it again.

It should also be added that the survey of English proficiency of the new team is only a small part of the task. In the near future, the Department will conduct an assessment of the English proficiency of 9th and 11th graders; assess the facilities, investment of schools and society in learning English; re-evaluate the English programs that have been and are being taught in high schools...

Once all the necessary grounds were in place, the City Department of Education and Training developed the project "Gradually making English the second language in schools".

Not sure why you need to do a survey?

The interview with the Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City regarding the English proficiency survey in Tuoi Tre on April 24 received much attention from readers. Some readers also commented.

Reader My Le: "At my school, all the teachers complained that the questions were too difficult, even the English teachers couldn't do them. Almost all the teachers had to ask someone good at English to do them for them. My colleagues and I don't understand why we had to do this survey. Is it to force us to take English classes (which costs money)?"

Reader Lee: "I am a bit confused about a few things: Why do all primary, secondary and high school teachers have to take an English test? This is true, but is it necessary to survey all teachers? Why not survey English teachers at schools first?

"The survey results are also not used for any other purposes such as competition assessment, salary review, discipline or other personal purposes..." then the survey does not affect personal achievements. But if the surveyor is an English teacher and the survey results are not as expected, what will the school or the Department of Education and Training think and what will the next action be? I think this needs to be clear."

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/khao-sat-nang-luc-tieng-anh-73-000-giao-vien-giao-vien-buc-xuc-khong-hieu-de-lam-gi-20250424224907968.htm