Speaking with Lao Dong, Mr. Do Ngoc Thu - Principal of Han Da Primary and Secondary School (Thach Ba Commune, Lao Cai Province) - said: Teaching English from grade 1 under the Prime Minister's Project "Bringing English to become the second language in schools for the period 2025 - 2035, with a vision to 2045" is a major policy, helping to improve the quality of education. However, the story of a shortage of English teachers is a difficult problem, especially for schools in mountainous areas.
Our school has 674 students, of which 303 are junior high school students and 371 are primary school students. The whole school currently has three English teachers, teaching from 3rd graders. We also increase an English teacher for your school that lacks staff, so to achieve the Project's goals, there will be many difficulties," said the Principal of Han Da Primary and Secondary School.
The shortage of English teachers is not only a concern for a few schools, but also occurs in many northern mountainous provinces.
Not to mention, schools are also facing difficulties due to differences in English proficiency between levels of education. With the characteristics of an inter-level school, when it is mandatory to teach English from grade 1, the school must arrange suitable teachers for each grade, especially grade 1, where students are new to this subject.
At Dao San Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Phong Tho, Lai Chau), the Board of Directors is urgently preparing a plan. The school needs three English teachers, but only two teachers are currently teaching and pursuing a second degree.
Pleased to implement the Project to improve the quality of English for students in mountainous areas right from grade 1. Worried because the school has more than 1,050 students, divided into 2 schools 3 km apart. It is not enough for teachers to teach directly at one point, so at another point they have to study online, Principal Pham Thi Xuan shared.
Similarly, Sung La Ethnic Boarding School (Sa Phin commune, Tuyen Quang province) also has concerns about the teaching staff.
Mr. Nguyen Van Loi - Principal of the school - questioned: "To implement English teaching from grade 1, we need at least three more teachers, but we have not been able to recruit them for many years. Online teaching is weak, teachers cannot interact with students".
According to Mr. Loi, Sung La Ethnic Boarding School has 670 students, most of whom are ethnic minorities. Many students are not fluent in Vietnamese, making English the second language is a double challenge.
Mr. Lam The Hung, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Tuyen Quang province, commented that implementing the project in a locality with many ethnic minorities is a difficult task for both teachers and students.
Despite the focus on investing resources, teaching Vietnamese before entering grade 1 for ethnic minority children has not yet achieved the desired results, students can understand but their speaking ability is still limited. In that context, implementing English as a second language is even more difficult.
Therefore, the leader of the Department of Education and Training of Tuyen Quang province suggested that there should be goals, roadmaps and requirements for results suitable to the conditions of each region.
