VietNamNet Bridge – The international model of learning, which is believed to modernize Vietnam’s problematic education system and better prepare children for the global integration, known as VNEN, has turned out to be unsuitable to the country.

The new teaching model

HCM City decided to apply VNEN model in the locality from the 2013-2014 academic year in a pilot program, under which the model is applied at one primary school in every district.

The Tan Thong Primary School in Cu Chi was the first one that applied the model for second and third graders in the 2012-2013 academic year, and then for fourth graders in 2013-2014.

According to Phan Thi My, Deputy Headmaster of Tan Thong School, the most outstanding feature of the new model is the way the class is organized and managed.

The class is managed by a so called “self-management council.” The “chair” of the council has the duty of supervising and asking other students to fulfill their works. He can also act as the monitor when teachers are away.

This method encourages students in self-study, self-control and self-management. Meanwhile, the teachers are free from blackboard and white chalk, while focusing on organizing the classes’ activities.

According to Nguyen Tuan Le, Headmaster of Tan Thong School, in the classes, tables are put in groups to serve groups of students (there are 5-8 students in every group). The topics for discussion of the different groups are not the same. The teachers would work with every group on different issues.

The student assessment method has also been renovated to go in accordance with VNEN’s standards. Teachers give comments about the progress made by students in order to encourage them.

My from Tan Thong School admitted that though the school has drawn some experiences from the first year of implementation, it is still meeting a lot of difficulties.

She said some second graders still have limited Vietnamese skills, therefore, they find it difficult to deal with the questions in the lessons.

According to some experts, the teaching model gives prominence to the self-study. However, they doubt if it is too early to require the self-study from primary school students, who just left kindergarten not long ago.

The hard pressure

The heads of the districts’ education sub-department, after witnessing the application of VNEN at the schools in their districts, said that the model proves to be unsuitable to Vietnam.

They said the model can only be applied for the classes with low numbers of students, which allows teachers to take care for every group of students and ever student. Meanwhile, the classes in HCM City are all overloaded, which means that they cannot meet the requirements to apply the model.

The headmaster of a primary school in Go Vap district noted that if applying VNEN, the number of students in every class needs to be halved, or there would be no space for tables and groups of students.

“It is unfeasible to apply the model in the current conditions,” she said.

Regarding the education quality of the model, Pham Thuy Ha, Headmaster of Nguyen Van Troi School in district 4, does not think it is a good teaching method. She said teachers can be not too hard when working with students, but the method cannot help promote the teachers’ creativity.

Mai Thanh