“The English language helps me talk to people from different countries,” said 11-year-old Kim Long. “I also love it because I can read lots of books and comics, and watch football on YouTube too,” he rattled on in fluent English.
The boy – who is in Grade 5 – and his peers in Nguyen Binh Khiem Elementary School, in Cau Giay, Hanoi, have been learning English since first grade.
At school, the pupils have daily English classes. They also take part in games, sing and watch videos in English.
Since 2023, maths and science lessons in the school have been conducted in Vietnamese and English – a school initiative strongly supported by parents.
This primary school is not the norm in Vietnam – at least, not now. But by 2030, the government hopes, every child will have the opportunity to learn English from the age of six, as Long did.
Currently, English is mandatory only from Grade 3. Some schools with enough qualified teachers and facilities can offer it from Grade 1, but only as an elective with two lessons a week.
Recently, the Vietnamese government announced a nationwide plan to establish English as a compulsory second language in all schools by 2035, and a mandatory subject from Grade 1 by 2030.
Under the new initiative, all kindergartens and pre-schools must introduce children to English within the next five years.
Nguyen Binh Khiem’s vice-principal Pham Thi Bich Ngoc told The Straits Times that the school has incorporated the English language into its first-grade curriculum for the past five years.
“Currently, although English is still an elective subject in Grades 1 and 2, the school has built an integrated English programme to help students become familiar with the language naturally from the very beginning,” said Ngoc.
“Our goal is to develop communication reflexes, confident listening and speaking skills, and a love of learning English in young children.”
In Vietnam, more than 90% of students attend government or public schools.
There are a handful of private schools catering to Vietnamese students and around 80 international schools – mostly in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City – with the medium of instruction in languages such as English, French and Russian, which serve mainly the foreign community.
The plan is to improve English proficiency and help “shape a globally competent generation ready for international integration”, according to a government statement in late October.
By 2045, English is expected to be widely used in 50,000 public schools with nearly 30 million students across the country.
At present, there are more than 26,000 schools in Vietnam with some 23 million students.
Le Huong Lan, 28, an office manager in Hanoi, said that although her four-year-old daughter has yet to start formal schooling, she is keen for her to learn English as soon as possible.
“English is as important as Vietnamese these days, because our children will be global citizens when they grow up.”
In order to achieve this “extremely ambitious” plan, noted Bui Manh Hung, 62, former chief coordinator of Vietnam’s general education reform, the education system needs to overcome various challenges including an acute shortage of English language teachers and the kind of teaching that focuses on passing exams instead of effective communication. — The Straits Times/ANN
