Nghe An will develop a project to improve the quality of English teaching and learning with a 10-year vision.

In the 2019 National High School Exam, Nghe An achieved the 36th graduation rate out of 63 provinces and cities, up 6 places compared to 2018. Photo: Archive

Good education quality, but poor English

Reporting on the results of the 2018-2019 school year at the regular July meeting of the Provincial People's Committee held on July 23, Mr. Thai Van Thanh - Director of the Department of Education and Training said that Nghe An continues to maintain its top position in education quality.

Last school year, 90/102 Nghe An students won national prizes for excellent students, ranking 2nd nationwide; 4 students participated in and won prizes in international and regional excellent students competitions. In the 2019 national high school exam, the province's graduation rate reached 95.24%, ranking 36th nationwide, up 6 places compared to 2018; the province had 650 candidates scoring 9.5 or higher.

However, education leaders expressed concern because when analyzing the score spectrum, the lowest score was still English (only 3.75), affirming that the Department will have solutions to propose to the Provincial People's Committee to implement and promote the improvement of the quality of teaching and learning English in schools.

Discussing this issue, Major General Nguyen Huu Cau - Director of the Provincial Police, National Assembly Delegate agreed that the quality of education in Nghe An is very good, but English is still poor.

“In the integration trend, if Nghe An falls behind in English, it will be very difficult for Nghe An students to find jobs or integrate at a higher level. Meanwhile, in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, English is very popular, so the opportunity for students to communicate and find jobs in the future is very easy,” Major General Nguyen Huu Cau said and suggested that the education sector should pay attention to improving students' English ability and increasing the quality of English teaching in Nghe An.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy chaired the regular July meeting of the Provincial People's Committee on the morning of July 23. Photo: Thu Giang

Chairing the meeting, comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee reaffirmed the attention of all levels, sectors and the whole society to caring for the education cause.

Recognizing the efforts of the education sector in recent times and praising the outstanding achievements of teachers and students in the province in the 2018-2019 school year, the provincial leaders directed the sector to pay more attention to the aspect of teaching and learning English.

Frankly pointing out that the English foundation in the general education stage is very important, but is still very weak, the Provincial People's Committee expressed support for the Department of Education and Training to have strong solutions to create changes in this issue. "We will allocate resources for investment, the Department of Education and Training should research and place orders. This cannot be done in 1-2 years but requires a 10-year roadmap. We need to be persistent and persistent, starting from the attitude and awareness of teachers, gradually moving to students, then parents, families, and society" - Comrade Thai Thanh Quy emphasized, at the same time directing the industry to get involved immediately, not to mention much about this issue but not yet starting to do it, not having strong, fundamental, serious solutions, and a clear roadmap.

Citing a practical example that in the integration period, graduates with good foreign language skills can easily find jobs after graduation with better salaries, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee directed the education sector to develop a comprehensive project to improve English proficiency, creating a widespread English learning movement.

English class of students at Vinh University Pedagogical Practice School. Photo: My Ha

Also at the meeting, comrade Thai Thanh Quy requested the Department of Education and Training to have a plan to re-evaluate the national standard school system, when Nghe An has 70% of schools meeting the standards but there are schools that have not been re-evaluated for 10 years, the facilities are degraded, the staff and quality of teachers are fluctuating...

Regarding education in mountainous areas, the head of the provincial government noted that it is necessary to pay close attention to facilities and the specific characteristics of localities in order to carefully calculate the planning of the school network, so that students and parents do not encounter difficulties when going to school.

Thu Giang