Vietnam Ministry Stresses Achievements of Primary Schools in Last Academic Year

Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) hosted a conference on primary education in northern Quang Ninh province on August 14 to hail the achievements, list the problems in 2018-2019 academic year and set targets for next academic year, state media reported. Last school year, primary schools nationwide had a total of 8.48 million students and 278,385 classes. The average rate of students per class was 30, and the rate of primary schools reaching national standard was 66%. The total number of schools was 13,995 and the rate of school per commune was 1.25. Regarding teaching of English language, many agreements were signed with international organizations, such as British Council Vietnam, Pearson Education Group, Apollo Vietnam Education and Training Organization, Cambridge University’s Examination Council, G2G Investment Promotion Agency New Zealand, and Sweden’s Education First. However, leaders from Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training listed the problems of teacher shortage, especially for subjects of music, arts, and English language. Acting Director Thai Van Tai of Primary Education Department, under the MoET, said primary education will focus on completing the conditions to implement new education programs and textbooks from the school year 2020- 2021. (VTV, Giao Duc Thoi Dai, moet, Giao Duc Thoi Dai)