Secondary school in Ho Chi Minh City begins teaching in English

Starting from the second semester of the 2024-2025 school year, Minh Duc Secondary School in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, will officially allow Vietnamese teachers to begin teaching mathematics, natural science , history, and geography in English.

Teachers and students of class 6/5 at Minh Duc Secondary School during a math lesson in English on "Three Collinear Points - Three Non-Collinear Points" - Photo: MY DUNG

The school had previously experimented with and evaluated teaching and learning in English during the first semester.

A lively lesson in English.

On the afternoon of December 12th, in class 6/5 of Minh Duc Secondary School, students had a very special lesson: a math lesson taught entirely in English by math teacher Truong Quoc An, who is also the class's homeroom teacher. The lesson was titled "Three Collinear Points and Three Non-Collinear Points".

The lesson begins with the teacher's introduction about the necessity of learning about collinear points, and some applications of collinear points in students' lives...

The teacher divided the class into six groups to facilitate discussion and teamwork. Throughout the lesson, all communication, discussions, lectures, games, questions, and answers between the teacher and students were conducted entirely in English.

The children played many games throughout the lesson, such as throwing balls into a tray and juggling table tennis balls as a team activity.

The lesson lasted 45 minutes with lively interaction between teacher and students, witnessed by the school's vice principal in charge of academic affairs and several teachers of mathematics, English, and other subjects.

"I understood what the teacher said and I also understood the math lesson that he taught in English. It was really a fun lesson, and I really enjoyed learning math in English like this," commented Bui Lam Minh Khang, class 6/5.

Speaking about the process of preparing a math lesson taught in English, Mr. Truong Quoc An said that creating a lesson plan for a math lesson in English is a little more challenging than creating a lesson plan for a math lesson in Vietnamese.

"However, at university, I learned how to teach math in English, and since I was a high school student in Ho Chi Minh City with English language skills from elementary school onwards, preparing lesson plans and teaching in English didn't pose much pressure for me. Therefore, I registered with the school to teach math classes in English to receive feedback from the school and other colleagues," said Mr. Truong Quoc An.

The aforementioned lesson taught by Mr. Truong Quoc An was not the first time he taught this subject in English. Prior to this, Mr. An had taught many math lessons in English under the observation and evaluation of the school's administration.

During the first semester of the 2024-2025 school year, Mr. An taught one math lesson in English each week to this class of students. Mr. An was also one of the teachers who taught math to Japanese students during an exchange program with a Japanese high school when they visited Minh Duc Secondary School last October.

Effective from semester 2

Ms. Tran Thuy An, principal of Minh Duc Secondary School, said that through the school's evaluation process, teachers who are assessed as teaching subjects well in English will be allowed to register to teach in the afternoon session starting from the second semester of the 2024-2025 school year. This has been approved by the school board.

"The school's assessment team for teaching subjects in English during the first semester found that some teachers were already capable of teaching. Therefore, in the second semester, the school began implementing the teaching of mathematics, natural science, history, and geography in English for some teachers who had passed the assessment, on a voluntary basis."

"The classes chosen to teach subjects in English will be either English enrichment classes or regular classes, not integrated classes. The school wants to provide more opportunities for students to improve their English language skills, so these classes will be taught in English enrichment classes or regular classes without students having to pay extra," Ms. An informed.

According to Ms. An, regarding the promotion of English as a second language in schools, the school will provide financial support for teacher training and professional development, with a maximum support amount of 10 million VND per course.

Open lesson

At Minh Duc Secondary School, when teachers register to teach subjects in English, even after the evaluation process, these lessons remain open classes. Therefore, all teachers and the school's management board can observe and provide feedback on the lesson.

Many subjects can be taught in English.

Mr. Tran Minh Thanh, the vice principal in charge of professional matters at Minh Duc Secondary School, said that besides Mr. An, the school also has several other teachers who have been evaluated on teaching mathematics, natural science, history, and geography in English during the first semester and have received training through exchange programs with schools in Singapore, Japan, and China.

"In recent years, the school has provided guidance and encouragement for teachers to learn and teach in English, so now the school has a relatively large team that can begin to encourage teachers to implement the school's curriculum by teaching subjects in English," Mr. Thanh said.

In fact, Minh Duc Secondary School has long facilitated teachers' learning of English-language teaching methods by sending them to schools in Singapore, Japan, and China that teach subjects in English.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/truong-cap-2-o-tp-hcm-bat-dau-day-hoc-bang-tieng-anh-20241220230754866.htm