English is still the "bottleneck" of education

According to Professor, Dr. Nguyen Dinh Duc, data from the 2023 high school graduation exam shows that, besides achievements, there are still some "bottlenecks" ineducation .

Professor, Dr. Nguyen Dinh Duc said that English is still a black spot in education.

English is still a "black spot"

On the morning of September 26, the Central Propaganda Department coordinated with the University of Technology to organize, and Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) hosted the scientific conference "Training high-quality human resources in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM), implementing strategic breakthroughs in human resource development according to the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress".

Speaking at the conference, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Duc, Chairman of the Council of the University of Technology, one of 14 scientists named in the 2023 world rankings of Research.com, said that in the US in the early 90s, a new educational trend called STEM education was formed.

In the STEM education program, science and technology subjects are integrated into one subject through project-based, experiential, and hands-on teaching methods.

In 2022 and 2023, Research.com compiled and ranked scientists in terms of international publications worldwide.

Vietnam has scientists in six fields recognized and ranked, namely engineering technology, computer science, environmental science, materials science, mechanical - aeronautical engineering, and public health - all of which are STEM-related fields.

According to Professor Duc, this shows that Vietnamese higher education has made progress related to STEM, but besides the achievements, there are still many shortcomings.

According to this expert, while the high school graduation rate is very high, the number of candidates with below average scores in math is the lowest among specialized subjects: accounting for nearly 22% of the exam papers.

Next is physics, accounting for about 14.786%. This is one of the two core subjects in STEM education and has a very high rate of candidates with below average scores.

Although there have been many positive changes, especially in big cities, and although the high school output standard is only A2 level and the score range has 2 saddle shapes, English still has nearly 45% below average score. Thus, Professor Duc believes that English is still a "black spot" in education.

With foreign language skills and core subjects as above, easy university admission with literature and civic education scores filled with excellent scores, it will be very difficult for the young generation to grasp the opportunities of the 4.0 Revolution.

Not focusing on STEM at university level

Professor Dr. Nguyen Dinh Duc also said that in Vietnam there are still many shortcomings related to STEM education. Specifically, we talk a lot about STEM education, but most of the public understands STEM as a subject that integrates science and math at the high school level, and does not pay attention to STEM education at the university level.

Vietnam's human resources are still limited. A report by the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that the quality of Vietnam's human resources is still low and is quite far behind that of other countries in the region.

For example, at the time of developing the human resources strategy (2010), Vietnam's ranking index on higher education - human resources training was 93 out of 131 countries in the ranking list.

Vietnam's human resource's critical thinking ranked 113/140 (World Economic Forum 2018) and according to a report by the General Department of Vocational Education in 2022, in terms of training quality, Vietnam ranked 102/141.

In order not to fall behind, according to Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc's proposal, it is necessary to further promote STEM education and English both in high school and in university education.

"Along with this workshop, we expect it to be a wake-up call - the first thing is to unify the will and deep awareness of all sectors, levels, educational and training institutions at all levels about the importance of STEM education and human resources to implement practical solutions to quickly improve the quality of Vietnamese human resources," said Professor Duc.

Source