Final episode: Determined to overcome difficulties for students!
Lack of teachers and not enough teachers in class is the common situation of English teaching in the mountainous districts of Nghe An.
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My Ha - Tien Hung• April 12, 2025
Lack of teachers and not enough teachers in class is the common situation of English teaching in the mountainous districts of Nghe An. In that context, the Education sector is having many solutions to improve English learning in schools, ensuring that all students can attend school according to the 2018 General Education Program. These are also the first steps for schools in Nghe An in general and mountainous districts in particular to realize the aspiration of making English the second language in schools.
Teacher Nguyen Thi Mai Phuong's familiar commute to work stretches from Huu Kiem Primary Boarding School to Pha Danh Primary Boarding School, a distance of nearly 20 km. At the age of nearly 50, traveling and moving continuously between two different schools is not easy for her.
However, this is the most optimal solution implemented by the Department of Education and Training of Ky Son district in the context of the district's serious shortage of English teachers.
Ms. Phuong also said that in addition to teaching at 2 schools, her teaching schedule is overloaded, because currently, the actual number of classes she has to take on is nearly 20 classes in all 3 grades 3, 4 and 5, with the actual number of teaching periods per week being 34 periods (11 periods more than the regulation).
Witnessing a lesson taught by teacher Mai Phuong, one can feel the hardships and difficulties of both her and her students, because currently, all of Ms. Phuong's classes are combined classes by grade. Primary schools in mountainous districts are all schools that have been built for many years, with small classrooms and no functional rooms. Before each lesson, students from each class take turns moving their desks and chairs to the common classroom, sitting crowded in classrooms with 50-55 students (exceeding the 20 students required by primary school regulations).
With English, if students study in small classes with fewer students, they will have more interaction and exchange. However, in the current context, this is not possible.
Teacher Nguyen Thi Mai Phuong
Talking about the implementation of English at Pha Danh Primary School for Ethnic Minorities, teacher Pham Xuan Hong - Principal of the school said that, in the short term, for the main classes, the school is having teachers from other schools come to reinforce. In the long term, the school hopes to add teachers or have a mechanism to contract English teachers to teach to stabilize the learning of teachers and students.
The situation of not having or lacking English teachers is also happening at 13 other primary schools in Ky Son district. At Na Ngoi 2 Primary School, since the old English teacher transferred schools, the school has not had any additional staff for 3 years.
Mr. Nguyen The Hanh - Principal of the school also expressed concern that this situation could last because recruiting English teachers in Ky Son district is facing many difficulties.
To overcome this situation, the Department of Education and Training of Ky Son district is currently assigning teacher Nguyen Thi Thi Thu (teacher of Nam Can Primary School for Ethnic Minorities) to teach classes in the form of "combined classes". These classes will be held in the school's cafeteria to ensure there are enough seats for students, avoiding the need for students to move tables and chairs after each class.
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In Quy Chau district, up to now, the whole district has only one boarding primary school, Chau Nga Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities. The remaining schools, because they have not yet implemented boarding, have encountered many difficulties in merging students from grade 3 and above from the satellite schools to the main schools.
Currently, the district is lacking teachers at both primary and secondary levels. Therefore, the district is being flexible in transferring, seconding, and increasing teachers to teach in the form of inter-school or inter-cluster.
The current difficulty is in the satellite schools, because the number of teachers is not enough to cover all the schools. Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh - Deputy Head of the Department of Education and Training added: Not only the "mobile" teachers but also the students in our district go to "mobile" English classes. That means every time there is an English class, students in the satellite schools will move to the main school to study.
From the 2022-2023 school year, implementing the 2018 General Education Program, English and Information Technology will become compulsory subjects for all students from grade 3 and above. That also means that English and Information Technology will be popularized nationwide. Implementing appropriate and effective subjects will create a significant change in communication skills, helping future generations have a solid foundation for the next stages of development.
In Nghe An, when English became a compulsory subject, starting from primary school, it brought both opportunities and challenges. The effectiveness was evident, but difficulties and shortcomings were also arising, especially when the current conditions of facilities, teaching equipment and especially the lack of teachers were still widespread.
With the desire to give opportunities to students and shorten the gap between the highlands and lowlands, the Nghe An Department of Education and Training has issued "long-term" instructions so that English teaching can be carried out regularly and sustainably.
Specifically, since the whole sector began implementing the 2018 General Education Program, Nghe An has had a policy of gathering students from grades 3 to 5 from all remote schools to the main school, building a boarding school model so that they can learn English and Information Technology, which are two compulsory subjects according to the new program.
According to statistics from the Department of Education and Training, if in the 2021 school year, the whole province only had 44 ethnic minority boarding schools, after 4 years it increased to 83 schools, including 41 primary schools, 8 primary schools and secondary schools, the total number of separate schools after 4 years decreased from 417 to 322 schools.
The rate of students in the whole province from grades 3 to 5 learning English is 208,942/209,360 students, an increase of more than 31,000 students compared to 4 years ago, in which, the number of students increased mainly concentrated in mountainous districts.
In addition, in the general context that mountainous districts are lacking nearly 100 English teachers, the Department has directed lowland and urban districts to implement the program "Departments help departments - schools help schools - professionals help professionals", which includes supporting online teaching for students in mountainous areas.
Up to now, the Department of Education and Training of Dien Chau and Do Luong districts and most recently Vinh city have "sponsored" schools in 3 mountainous districts.
Currently, this model has only been implemented in a few schools nationwide on a small scale and not continuously. The Nghe An Department of Education and Training is also the first unit nationwide to launch the program "Departments help departments - schools help schools - professionals help professionals" and later many other localities followed.
Mr. Dang Van Hai - Chairman of the Education Trade Union said: Previously, the implementation of "rooms helping rooms - schools helping schools" mainly stopped at supporting facilities and teaching equipment.
However, in the current context, what schools lack and need the most is English teachers. Therefore, joining hands has really helped to overcome difficulties for schools in mountainous areas, helping students learn English fully right from primary school.
Good news for the mountainous districts when, starting this school year, Nghe An province issued Resolution No. 17/2024/NQ-HDND. Accordingly, 83 primary and secondary boarding schools and high schools of Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, Que Phong, and Quy Chau districts will receive financial support for enhanced teaching and learning, including foreign languages.
This is also considered an important policy that contributes to improving the quality of teaching and learning in mountainous districts, giving students opportunities to develop comprehensively. Welcoming the program, despite difficulties in arranging teachers and facilities, mountainous districts are determined to "overcome difficulties" so that students have more opportunities to learn.
Mr. Pham Viet Phuc - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Ky Son district said that the locality currently has only 17/33 primary schools with English teachers and if counting both primary and secondary schools, there is a shortage of 64 teachers.
Recruitment is very difficult, even though there are more than enough staff. Therefore, in addition to supporting teachers from lowland districts, we are encouraging schools to invite more teachers from junior high and high school levels, organize extra classes outside of regular school hours, and teach online...
Mr. Pham Viet Phuc - Head of Education and Training Department of Ky Son district
To solve difficulties for mountainous districts, the Department of Education and Training recently organized a conference and worked with all principals and leaders of the Department of Education and Training of mountainous districts to listen to the current situation, analyze the difficulties and find solutions.
Mr. Thai Van Thanh - Director of the Department of Education and Training said that improving the quality of education in mountainous areas is one of the important goals of the Nghe An Education sector. Therefore, the sector has been and is continuing to advise the province to have priority policies, support the implementation of programs and attract teachers to work in mountainous districts for a long time.
Besides, in the context of the lack of English teachers that cannot be solved "overnight", the enhancement, support and assistance of lowland districts according to the program "rooms helping rooms, schools helping schools, professionals helping professionals" is effective and practical.
