Primary Education in Vietnam today

PRIMARY EDUCATION IN VIETNAM TODAY
1. General
Primary education is the critical foundation of education in Vietnam.
Children normally start primary education at the age of six. Education at this level
lasts for 5 years and is compulsory for all children. The country's literacy rate is
over 90%.The renovated primary education curriculum in Vietnam is divided
into two phases as follows:


Phase 1 includes Grades 1, 2 and 3 with 7 subjects: Vietnamese Language,
Mathematics, Morality, Nature and Society, Arts, Music and Physical
Education.



Phase 2 includes Grades 4 and 5 with 10 subjects: Vietnamese Language,
Mathematics, Morality, Science, History, Geography, Basic Techniques,
Music, Arts and Physical Education, Informatics.
2. Statistics

In school year 2016- 2017, Vietnam had 15.052 primary schools ( In school
year 2009-2010, Vietnam had 15,172 primary schools but in school year 20162017, the number of primary schools decreased by some mountainous province
made arrangements scale schools and classes for local education). Up to 2017, the
number of primary school teachers is 397.000. The total enrollment was 7.8
million pupils, of whom 0,1 % were students in the minority.

3. Current state
Nowadays, education is a popular problem which is cared all over the world,
especially in Vietnam. This issue becomes greatly serious because the quality of
student is decreasing in alarming level. Students have to learn a great amount of
knowledge but most are theoretical and less practical. As a result, they are less

knowledgeable about reality and can not apply things which they learned in their
life. Besides, the lack of primary school teachers is also a hot issue.
Currently, Vietnam lacks about 5,616 English teachers, 5,607 Informatics
teachers in primary school. Based on the plan, starting from the school year 20212022, 2023-2024, each year, primary schools will have to recruit about 2,000
English teachers and 2,000 Informatics teachers.


In contrast to the lack of teachers, the number of primary school students is
overloaded especially in big citys such as Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City. For example,
Cau Giay district in Ha Noi has 11 public primary schools with an average of
55.95 students per class. As in Hoang Mai District, there are 17 public primary
schools with 51.6 students per class. In fact, the number of students is too large
compared to the maximum regulation of the Ministry of Education at many
schools in the inner city of Hanoi has been going on for many years, but this
problem has not been so far solution.
Extra classes is also controversial issue currently. In Vietnam, a country
where education reforms are at their height, extra classes are proliferating and
have become a concern to society and the government. Although the government
has banned extra classes that are independent of school administration, teachers
often run home-based classes to supplement their income. This is inevitable
because primary school teacher’s income is too low compared to other career.
One of the notable innovations in primary education is Circular 30.
Circular 30 in 2014 stipulates that primary school pupils will not be graded.
Instead of using grades, teachers will provide feedback on their academic
performance, training, formation and development, capacity and quality of
elementary students. Ministry of Education expected that this reduces pressure for
teacher and students.
Key words/ Vocabulary:
1. Foundation: a fact that something is based on and grows from
The builders are now beginning to lay the foundations of the new school.

2. Renovate: to renew
They spent the summer renovating a farmhouse.
3. Curriculum: the subjects are taught in school
The primary education curriculum in Vietnam is divided into two phases
4. Ministry: A government department that has particular area
responsibility
Ministry of Education proposed circular 30 in 2014.
5. Controversial: causing a lot of angry public discussion and disagreement
Using plastic bags has been a controversial issue.
6. Reform: to improve a system, law, etc.
She thought she could reform him.
7. Proliferate: to increase rapidly
Books and articles on the subject have proliferated over the last year.
8. Inevitable: cannot avoid
A rise in the interest rates seems inevitable.
9. Notable: deserving to be noticed or to receive attention


His eyes are his most notable feature.
10. Circular: an idea, or a statement to guide the government legal
documents
One of the notable innovations in primary education is Circular 30.
11. Stipulate: to state clearly that something must be done or how
something must be done
The job advertisement stipulates that the applicant must have three years'
experience.
Ex1: Answer the questions:
1. When do the children normally start primary education?
2. How many years must students study in primary school?
3. How many percentage do the student in the minority account for?

Ex2: Rearrange the words into correct sentences:
1. primary / Vietnam /5,616 English teachers / lacks/ currently/ about / school /
5,607 teachers/ in /
2. teacher/ of /expected /Ministry/ that /Education /students/ reduce/ this /for
/and /pressure
Ex3: Mark the letter A,B,C or D to indicate the word that has different stress from
the rest
1. A. Curriculum
B. Renovate C. Foundation D. Reform
2. A. Controversial B. Circular
C. Stipulate
D. Notable
Ex4: Rearrange the letters into correct words:
1. otnblae
2. ircclaur
3. efmrro