An ambitious programme to teach English in primary schools has beenpostponed due to teacher shortages and a dearth of funds.
Theprogramme was designed to give pupils an early grounding in thelanguage. The Ministry of Education and Training wanted at least 20percent of primary school pupils to be taught English in the 2010-11academic year.
Under the programme, English will be acompulsory subject for third-grade to the fifth-grade students who willhave four lessons per week.
However, a shortage of teachers has forced the ministry to withdraw the plan.
Le Tien Thanh, director of the Ministry of Education and Training'sPrimary Education Department, said the programme had been successfullyimplemented in a few schools.
The programme was launched in 2003. However, the results have been disappointing.
Hoang Thi Dieu, principal of Bac Phu Primary School in Hanoi's Soc Son District, said students were only taught English twice aweek.
She said the school had only two qualifiedEnglish teachers and that it did not have the funds required to buytapes, projectors and equipment to properly teach the subject.
An official at Soc Son Education and Training Bureau said some primaryschools had already piloted teaching English but teacher shortages hadmeant they'd had to abandon the project.
The VietnamEducation Science Institute said there were more than 4,000 teachersteaching English in primary schools across the country.
Institute deputy director Nguyen Loc said there were sufficient teachers to conduct a pilot programme in the country.
But Loc said about 2,000 more teachers needed to be trained each year.Only by so doing would primary schools be able to meet the ministry'srequirements, he said.
Thanh said teacher quality was a major concern.
"It depends on the actual capability of the teaching staff whoseEnglish language proficiency must meet international standards," saidThanh. "University degrees are meaningless by themselves."
About 15 cities and provinces will be selected to pilot the Englishteaching programme in the 2010-11 school year. In each area, betweenfive and ten primary schools will take part in the scheme.
Loc said students from these schools would start learning English fourtimes a week. The number of students taking part in the programme wouldincrease in years to come, until the programme matures in 2020, hesaid.
HCM City pioneered the programme in primary schools.
Le Ngoc Diep, head of the city's Education and Training Department,said the programme was implemented 12 years ago and that more than47,000 primary school students had been taught English compulsorily.
He said the department would teach English to first-grade studentsfrom the second semester of this school year. Students of remaininggrades had already studied English from the beginning of this schoolyear, Diep said.
Under the programme, students mustbe able to listen to, identify, speak and write simple English words andphrases. They are also expected to answer simple questions aboutthemselves and other people./.
Theprogramme was designed to give pupils an early grounding in thelanguage. The Ministry of Education and Training wanted at least 20percent of primary school pupils to be taught English in the 2010-11academic year.
Under the programme, English will be acompulsory subject for third-grade to the fifth-grade students who willhave four lessons per week.
However, a shortage of teachers has forced the ministry to withdraw the plan.
Le Tien Thanh, director of the Ministry of Education and Training'sPrimary Education Department, said the programme had been successfullyimplemented in a few schools.
The programme was launched in 2003. However, the results have been disappointing.
Hoang Thi Dieu, principal of Bac Phu Primary School in Hanoi's Soc Son District, said students were only taught English twice aweek.
She said the school had only two qualifiedEnglish teachers and that it did not have the funds required to buytapes, projectors and equipment to properly teach the subject.
An official at Soc Son Education and Training Bureau said some primaryschools had already piloted teaching English but teacher shortages hadmeant they'd had to abandon the project.
The VietnamEducation Science Institute said there were more than 4,000 teachersteaching English in primary schools across the country.
Institute deputy director Nguyen Loc said there were sufficient teachers to conduct a pilot programme in the country.
But Loc said about 2,000 more teachers needed to be trained each year.Only by so doing would primary schools be able to meet the ministry'srequirements, he said.
Thanh said teacher quality was a major concern.
"It depends on the actual capability of the teaching staff whoseEnglish language proficiency must meet international standards," saidThanh. "University degrees are meaningless by themselves."
About 15 cities and provinces will be selected to pilot the Englishteaching programme in the 2010-11 school year. In each area, betweenfive and ten primary schools will take part in the scheme.
Loc said students from these schools would start learning English fourtimes a week. The number of students taking part in the programme wouldincrease in years to come, until the programme matures in 2020, hesaid.
HCM City pioneered the programme in primary schools.
Le Ngoc Diep, head of the city's Education and Training Department,said the programme was implemented 12 years ago and that more than47,000 primary school students had been taught English compulsorily.
He said the department would teach English to first-grade studentsfrom the second semester of this school year. Students of remaininggrades had already studied English from the beginning of this schoolyear, Diep said.
Under the programme, students mustbe able to listen to, identify, speak and write simple English words andphrases. They are also expected to answer simple questions aboutthemselves and other people./.
