Vietnamese elementary students at international schools in Ho Chi Minh City will have to learn their mother tongue between 8-10 periods a week, according new rules recently proposed by the local education department.

The draft regulations also stipulate that Vietnamese students finishing fifth grade at international elementary schools must take the same department-issued final exams in those subjects as students at other local public schools in the city.

The proposal comes in response to rising complaints that international schools fail to provide Vietnamese students with sufficient knowledge about their native language and their country’s culture and history.

If the international schools fail to comply with the new regulations, the HCMC Department of Education and Training will fine or suspend them from admitting Vietnamese students, said department deputy director Nguyen Hoai Chuong.

‘Extracurricular’ not good enough

Currently, 15 international schools enroll Vietnamese elementary students and preschoolers across the southern city, said Le Ngoc Diep, head of the department’s Primary Education Division.

However, recent inspection by the division revealed that very few of the schools provided their students with adequate information about Vietnamese language, history, geography and ethics, though they are regulated by the ministry to do so.

A teacher from an international school in HCMC said her school considered Vietnamese language, history and geography extracurricular subjects and student performance in those classes don’t count towards their overall marks.

“As they are extracurricular classes, students don’t pay much attention to them,” she said.

Meanwhile, a father whose child is studying at an international school in District 5, complained that the boy can’t read Vietnamese, even though he’s already in fourth grade.

The parent, who requested anonymity, said his son was taught Vietnamese for only one 45-minute period a day while all other subjects were taught in English.

“I’ve been to many countries, but no place is like Vietnam. Other national education systems teach students foreign language at a very early age, but don’t teach it as a replacement for their native language,” Chuong told a meeting between the department and international schools enrolling Vietnamese students on Wednesday.

“Elementary students can’t use Vietnamese fluently and they’re taught scientific subjects in English…they’ll be unable to use simple Vietnamese words properly in the future,” he said.

But representatives from the schools argued at the meeting that if they taught students under the ministry’s program, together with their own programs, students would be overwhelmed.

Pilot project

Le Tien Thanh, head of the education ministry’s Primary Education Department, said that not until recently did the ministry allow international schools to admit Vietnamese students in a pilot project several years ago.

He said the ministry had yet to intervene as the project was just a test.

But Chuong said the project would be evaluated in the near future.

“The city then will propose that the Ministry of Education and Training implement more specific regulations on the schools.”

Source: Tuoi Tre