These figures were revealed in the Ministry's report summarizing the National Foreign Language Project, spanning 2017-2025.
In the 2024-2025 academic year, 44 out of 63 provinces and cities piloted teaching other subjects in foreign languages or integrating foreign language instruction.
For English alone, the numbers are approximately 112,500 and 77,300 students, respectively. The Ministry considers this a significant achievement in foreign language education at the secondary level after eight years of implementing the project.
The Ministry is developing a new project for 2026-2035, emphasizing the need for foreign language proficiency to become a competitive advantage for the Vietnamese workforce in the 21st century.
Moving forward, the Ministry will focus on developing both domestic and international teaching staff and fostering skills for teaching the Vietnamese general education curriculum in foreign languages. Schools are required to integrate foreign language instruction into other subjects, promoting technology application and international cooperation throughout this process.
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Students at Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted, TP HCM, learn science in English with a foreign teacher. Photo: EMG |
Students at Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted, TP HCM, learn science in English with a foreign teacher. Photo: EMG
Vietnam currently has about 26 million students from preschool to university, including vocational education.
Last August, the Politburo mandated all levels to improve students' foreign language skills, gradually making English a second language in schools. Thus, English would not just be a subject for exams but a medium for teaching other subjects and for daily communication.
Currently, no locality teaches English as a second language province-wide. Some, like Hanoi, TP HCM, Quang Ninh, and Bac Ninh, have pilot programs teaching math and science in English.
In early March of this year, in a draft national project to establish English as a second language in schools, the Ministry of Education and Training set a target for all eligible preschools to implement English as a second language by 2035. At the general education level, students would learn this program across levels 1, 2, and 3.
Thanh Hang
