VietNamNet Bridge – The new English programme for sixth graders will be tested this year at some junior high schools that meet the national standards, the Ministry of Education and Training has said.

At a workshop held in HCM City yesterday, June 7, to solicit opinions for its draft, Dao Ngoc Loc, head of the Viet Nam Institute of Educational Sciences' Foreign Language Office, said the programme would be based on an English teaching programme for primary-school students introduced last year in 18 provinces and cities.

It would be similar to the common European framework of reference for languages and require students to understand sentences and frequently used expressions, communicate about simple and routine tasks, and hold an exchange of information on familiar and routine matters, he said.

It would focus on listening and speaking skills, he said.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Vinh Hien said the ministry had received the list of schools that agreed to pilot the programme.

But it would screen them for quality standards, he said.

The ministry was compiling textbooks which would be ready by September when the school year began, he said.

Nguyen Hoai Chuong, deputy head of the HCM City Department of Education and Training, said the biggest difficulty was the shortage of qualified English teachers.

The ministry should also offer incentives to attract and retain teachers.

Dr Vu Thi Phuong Anh, head of the HCM City-based Viet Nam National University's Centre for Educational Testing and Quality Assessment, asked more training courses for English teachers to improve their skills in areas like drafting curriculums.

Tran Dinh Nguyen Lu, English specialist at the city department, said the ministry should increase the number of English classes for sixth-grade students.

The programme required them to study three classes per week, but since it was not enough for them to practice listening and speaking or learn all their lessons, the frequency should be increased, he said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News