Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha was speaking at a recentconference organised by the Ministry of Education and Training with localeducation departments and universities, reviewing and evaluating school-hostedonline learning, and teaching programmes via television.
With the slogan "Pausing school without stopping learning", localeducation departments reported that localities had implemented online learningand teaching via television during the months-long school closure periodtriggered by the coronavirus crisis.
Minister Nha said that after this conference, the ministry would soon finalisethe draft of online teaching regulations at schools and education institutions.
When there is a legal basis, online teaching will be considered a form offormal teaching. The combination of online teaching and direct learning mustcontinue to be implemented, according to the minister.
Distance learning has been implemented for a long time, but this was the firsttime that the education sector has implemented the programme methodically,widely and with many positive signs.
In the process of implementing the new model (online teaching) the educationsector has received attention from the Vietnam Study Encouragement Association,Association of Vietnam Universities and Colleges.
It proved that the education sector has potential and strengths to pioneer theapplication of technology, according to the minister.
He also affirmed that online teaching was not only a temporary solution duringthe pandemic but also an important method to improve the quality of educationfrom preschool to university level.
Thereby, a lot of administrative procedures were reduced, knowledge andexperience were shared, and pressure on teachers in school also decreased.
An official survey showed that when schools were closed due to COVID-19,provinces gained an average of over 80 percent of students accessing onlinelearning. This ratio in cities was more than 90 percent.
However, the minister admitted online teaching was still facing somedifficulties, due to poor internet infrastructure, transmission servers,limited interaction between teachers and students, especially in preschool andprimary school; as well as students in remote and poor areas.
Speaking about the general education programme, he said: “The ministry willcontinue to streamline the programme, through evaluating the recent onlineteaching process, towards a streamlined and effective programme.”
“Shorten the learning and teaching time but the quality and vacation time isstill guaranteed,” he said.
Schools should improve advanced technology skills and pedagogy methods ofonline teaching for teachers.
Students must also be guided to improve their self-awareness andresponsibility, especially knowledge and skills, to prevent adverse impactswhen participating in the online environment.
The minister also warned that the management of students during days-off due tothe pandemic was still poor, while students faced problems when they returnedto school./.