VietNamNet Bridge – Kindergartens will be banned from teaching foreign languages, according to a Ministry of Education and Training document sent to all the provinces recently.

In the document 694/BGDDT-GDMN, which was issued on February 18 this year, the ministry said that it did not think current standards of teaching languages were high enough and advised that kindergartens should wait until there was an improvement in standards.

The ministry advised it had banned the advertising of foreign-language courses and software that it had not tested or approved.

Provincial departments of education and training have been requested to conduct regular inspections of curricula in kindergartens - and to deal with those breaking guidelines.

Ha Thuy, whose five-year-old daughter is studying in a kindergarten in Ba Dinh District, said that she disagreed with the ministry decision. She said that children between two and five years old had a high ability to learn a foreign language.

"English courses taught in the kindergarten where my daughter attends are of the simplest level so they are not likely to affect kids' health and development," she said, adding that her daughter liked English very much thanks to the visual and audio tools used.

Meanwhile, Do Thi Thu Ha, principle of Anh Duong (Sunshine) Kindergarten in Tu Liem District, expressed strong support for the ban.

"As an educator, I personally think that language teaching is not really necessary in kindergartens. Children should be taught life skills instead," Ha said, adding that children at home rarely found anyone to practice their English.

Ha was worried that many children nowadays can speak English fluently but cannot spell correctly many Vietnamese words.

However, Ha said most parents at her kindergarten asked for English courses for their children.

Source: VNS