Foreign language centers must have commitments and criteria on output standards for students.

Afternoon of October 1,Department of Education and Trainingorganized a conference to summarize foreign language training in the 2019-2020 school year. The conference also focused on discussing many issues that are arising in the process.foreign language teaching activities at English centersCurrently.

Many concerns when implementing the enhanced English program

Policyimprove Englishhas been implemented in many schools in Nghe An province in recent years. In this school year alone, the program has been widely implemented in many schools in Vinh city, Do Luong district and some other localities with the goal of improving the quality of English teaching in schools.

The conference was attended by more than 200 delegates, directors, deputy directors of foreign language centers and leaders of education and training departments in 21 districts, cities and towns in the province. Photo: My Ha

Regarding the enhanced English program, currently schools in the area are linked with theforeign language centerto organize teaching outside of regular school hours. The centers also need to have a commitment to output according to training quality standards.

Regarding this issue, at the conference, some delegates still had concerns about the implementation process such as: unclear content of the enhanced program, the implementation of tuition fees between centers was not yet unified. A representative of an English center in Do Luong district was concerned that "through the input test, the English quality of students at 7 secondary schools in the district still had many differences. Therefore, committing to the same output standards encountered many difficulties".

Through discussion of the opinionsEnglish center, Mr. Nguyen Manh Ha - Head of Vocational Education Department, Department of Education and Training said: The implementation of enhanced English programs in schools is carried out on the basis of a contract signed between the school and the foreign language center. In which, the teaching programs must be based on approved programs and must have output commitments according to the levels of the international foreign language proficiency framework.

An intensive English class in Vinh city. Photo: My Ha.

For the program to be implemented effectively, the signing process must have a clear agreement between parents and schools to increase the responsibility of both parties in the implementation process. However, in addition, the centers must also be responsible for the biggest goal of bringing quality to students.

Regarding the current funding for the intensive English program, many opinions say that the old fee is no longer appropriate. Currently, the Department of Education and Training is also surveying and collecting opinions from the centers to build a reasonable tuition fee to submit to the Provincial People's Committee and have consensus throughout the province.

Strengthening management of foreign language centers

According to the report of the Department of Education and Training, up to now, the whole province has 142 foreign language centers, distributed in 19 districts, cities, towns and most concentrated in Vinh city (65 units). Of which, 23 centers have foreign teachers participating in teaching.

Representative of English Center in Do Luong district speaking at the conference. Photo: My Ha.

In recent years, the activities of the centers have been carried out quite seriously, in accordance with regulations and basically met the needs of learners. Since January 1, 2019, more than 7,000 classes have been organized with nearly 82,000 students.

Besides the achieved results, the activities of foreign language centers still have some difficulties and shortcomings such as the investment in facilities and equipment in some centers is not long-term strategic. Some units are not serious in implementing the teacher's program, have little professional activities or use teachers who do not meet the conditions and standards, especiallyforeign teachers. The inspection and examination were not really timely, leading to some units organizing activities before being permitted by competent authorities.

Concluding the conference, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training Nguyen Van Khoa highly appreciated the activities of foreign language centers in recent times.

In the coming time, to improve the efficiency of foreign language centers, the Department of Education and Training requires the centers to publicize their activities on the Department of Education and Training's website and mass media for people and educational institutions to select and monitor.

Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training Nguyen Van Khoa presented Certificates of Merit to units that have done well in teaching and learning foreign languages. Photo: My Ha

The Department will also coordinate with relevant departments and branches to strengthen comprehensive State management of foreign language centers, especially curriculum, teaching staff, facilities and teaching equipment.

The Department also requires the centers to strengthen professional training and capacity building, organize seminars to innovate and create teaching and learning, and consider this as a driving force for effective development, promoting the brand and reputation of the centers.

On this occasion, the Director of the Department of Education and Training awarded Certificates of Merit to 10 centers with many contributions to improving the quality of foreign language teaching in the area.