Students at the Viet Duc High School in Hanoi.

The department asked for an assessment of English teachers in high schools against the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The assessment is scheduled to finish by June 25.

Many teachers worry they will not reach the score of 6.5 in IELTS, even though they’ve worked as teachers of English for many years.

Teachers said that the assessment had positive points, which helps teachers check their capacity and gain new knowledge. However, many others believe that if the results were announced in public, it would put pressure on their jobs.

“We must teach and study for IELTS at the same time and it will affect our schedule,” said a teacher in Long Bien District.

Another teacher in Thanh Tri District said that the assessment deadline was too soon, leaving many teachers exhausted after studying.

Students were revising for the year-end exam, so teachers could not help them prepare and revise for their own exam at the same time, she said.

Many old teachers did not have much opportunity to gain new knowledge, and if they got a bad score, they would feel ashamed in front colleagues and students, she added.

Parents believe it’s necessary for teachers to take the test.

The assessment was based on an international system, so it would help check whether the teachers were able to teach English or not, a father said.

“If the teachers do not meet the standard, schools should reassign them. At present, many students reach 7.0 for IELTS when they are at junior secondary schools, so why would teachers not want to improve their capacity?” she said.

A principal of a primary school in Cau Giay District said that teachers should consider the exam a good chance to assess their capacity and revise knowledge.

The principal added that high schools should not announce the test results in public, because if some teachers did not meet the grade, they would worry and the results would also affect the education sector’s prestige.

Le Ngoc Quang, deputy director of the Hanoi DoET, said the test aimed at implementing a plan of the municipal people’s committee about teaching and studying English by 2025.

Under the plan, Hanoi aims that by 2025, all teachers at high schools meet Vietnam’s norms for teaching foreign languages and new teaching methods.

By 2025, half of teachers at different educational levels must reach mark 6.5 for IELTS and half of teachers for math and scientific subjects can use English for teaching.

So, the test’s target was to classify teachers and continue training for them so that they could reach the norms, said Quang.

Teachers not reaching 6.5 for IELTS will be trained. Funds for the training will be from the State budget.  VNS

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