VietNamNet Bridge - Though many provinces and cities have decided to stop VNEN (the Vietnam Escuela Nueva) methodology, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) said VNEN will still be applied in Vietnam.

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Phan Thi T, a parent in Huong Son district in Ha Tinh province, has asked the teacher to allow her daughter to repeat the second grade, though she knows this may shock the girl.

“My daughter was in the second grade in 2015-2016 and she studied with the VNEN program. She passed the exams and could move to the next grade. But I have found that her learning capacity is very weak,” T, who is also a teacher, explained.

If the student repeats the second grade this year, she will not have to follow VNEN program, because the Ha Tinh provincial authorities have decided to stop applying VNEN.

“I have to make such a decision because I think this will be better for my daughter,” she said.

Ha Giang, Ha Tinh provinces and Vung Tau City have decided to stop applying the VNEN model on a large scale from the 2016-2017 academic year.

Though many provinces and cities have decided to stop VNEN (the Vietnam Escuela Nueva) methodology, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) said VNEN will still be applied in Vietnam.
VNEN has been used in Ha Tinh on a trial basis since 2012-2013. VNEN is being applied at 129 out of 260 primary schools, 32 out of 150 secondary schools and 15 out of 44 high schools. 

However, Ha Tinh’s chair Dang Quoc Khanh still decided to stop VNEN and only continue VNEN for students following the model since the 2015-2016 academic year.

Meanwhile, the members of the Vung Tau City’s Party Executive Committee have agreed that the VNEN application will be stopped from the 2016-2017 academic year.

In other localities, parents and teachers continue complain that there are too many problems with the methodology.

However, MOET said that it would not eliminate VNEN.

At the working session with Nghe An province on August 2, MOET’s Minister Phung Xuan Nha said that VNEN was a good model.

“Some localities want to give up VNEN. However, after three years of implementing VNEN on a trial basis, MOET believes that it is a good model. We need to learn lesson from the application,” Nha said.

“The ministry will continue implementing VNEN, but we won’t impose it,” he said, adding that local authorities can consider applying parts of the model, while it would be extreme ieliminating it entirely.

Pham Minh Hac, former Minister of MOET, also thinks that it is necessary to ‘filter’ the best from VNEN and apply good points of the model in national education.


Le Hanh