High schools for the gifted will soon begin teaching some of their classes fully in English to have at least 50 percent of their graduates achieve average English language skills according to European standards.

The plan is based on the Common European Framework of Reference, developed by the European Council, which has established six levels of language skills.

The rate is expected to increase to 70 percent by 2020, the ministry representatives told a gifted high school conference in the northern province of Nam Dinh on Saturday.

The plan to be submitted to the government for approval also aims to send 750 teachers abroad for training and equip 1,850 instructors with the skills necessary to teach high-level English classes.

By 2015, the ministry also aims to have all gifted high schools meeting national standards, with 15 of them receiving investment equal to that of international schools, according to the project set for launch next year.

Gifted students would then account for at least 3 percent of total student body in each province and city.

Vu Dinh Chuan, head of the ministry’s High School Education Department, said gifted students would receive all-around training, including independent thinking and teamwork skills. He said the standard now was to simply train them for competitions, rather than for useable skills.

The new framework aims to develop students’ intelligence quotient (IQ), creativity quotient (CQ), passion quotient (PQ), and moral quotient (MQ), Chuan added.

Source: Thanh Nien, Tuoi Tre