Foreign languages off kids' syllabus
Kindergartens will be banned from teaching foreign languages, according to a Ministry of Education and Training document sent to all the provinces recently.
The ministry said that it does not think current standards of language teaching high enough and advised that kindergartens should wait until there is an improvement in standards.
The ministry said it has banned the advertising of foreign-language courses and software that it has 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 disagrees with the ministry’s decision. She said that children between two and five years old have 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 find anyone to practice their English.
Ha is 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.