Vietnam to boost language learning with billion dollar funding
Updated
Vietnam is embarking on an ambitious plan to boost the learning of foreign languages. The country's prime minister has approved a billion US dollar program in a bid to enhance graduate job skills. The program will place special emphasis on English.
Presenter:Girish Sawlani
Speaker: Richard Stewart, the Director of studies at the Australian Centre for Education and Training in Ho Chi Minh City
SAWLANI: Vietnam's accession into the World Trade Organisation in 2006 signalled its commitment to engage with the wider global community. Those commitments are already reaping big rewards with the country's foreign investments this year reaching 57 million dollars, a four fold jump from the year before.
But in a bid to prepare Vietnam's youth for an increasingly globalised environment, the government is injecting one billion dollars in improving the second language proficiency of its graduates. Under the plan, English will become a compulsory second language for all students from primary to university level.
Richard Stewart is the director of studies at the Australian Centre for Education and Training in Ho Chi Minh city which provides English language training for local students. He says the announcement by Prime Minister Nguyen is significant.
STEWART: I think this is extremely significant for the people of Vietnam. It just shows how important language training is in terms of benefiting the economy. Recently, Vietnam has just accessed the World Trade Organisation and they wanted to take full advantage of that accession. There is a tendency that they want to move towards the investment in high touch items, such as technological items, such as multi-media computers etc. etc.
SAWLANI: From a Vietnamese point of view, demand for learning the English language is all too evident. Online Podcasts of Radio Australia's popular english language lessons record one million downloads annually from Vietnam alone.
Richard Stewart from ACET says the added emphasis on learning English will significantly enhance the job skills of graduates entering the competitive international market.
STEWART: Obviously, these students are going to be much more sort of internationally aware, as a result of being able to study English, because they will be able to access a wider range of information, so of great benefit to people here in that regard. And certainly we're looking forward to the day when we do get better quality students coming into our centres before they go for departure to overseas.
SAWLANI: With historically close ties, he says Australia is well positioned to play a crucial role in Vietnam's education revolution.
STEWART: Australia has a great relationship with Vietnam and it also has great expertise in delivery of English language training. Vietnam is now the number one destination for overseas student in Australia, so already there are very, very close ties between Australia and Vietnamese graduates that are working and living back here in Vietnam.
I think there is going to be a huge benefit for Australia and a very strong role to be played in a curriculum development and the actual delivery of training.
SAWLANI: The billion dollar project will involve all schools across the country being equipped with multi-media labs by 2015.
It also aims to have full second language proficiency by 2020.
While the plan seems rather ambitious, Richard Stewart believes its achievable.
STEWART: It is an incredibly ambitious plan, but past experience has shown that Vietnam has been a very, very resourceful country. Obviously there has got to be a lot of planning, that has got to be taken into account. Whereas I feel that a lot more investment has got to be put into the actual human resources of the people, given that they are coming from a very, very basic elementary level of English language training out in the community and out in the provinces.
SAWLANI: But the project doesn't just stop at English, the Ministry of Education and Training will also make it compulsory for students to take courses in third-language courses in Mandarin, French or Russian. Richard Stuart says those languages are also crucial in broader national context.
STEWART: Historically, Vietnam has very strong links with Russia, with China, with France. Certainly it would be to have a second language or even a third language under their belt would be of great benefit to Vietnam and Vietnam as a trading economy.
