Teachers in digital age confronted with new challenges

Children at Rose Kindergarten in Quảng Yên Town, Quảng Ninh Province learn to draw on a touch screen computer. Photo quangninh.gov.vn

HÀ NỘI – The education sector is confronted with new challenges such as digital education, artificial intelligence (AI) and the rapid and continuous development and transformation of science and technology, said Minister of Education and Training Nguyễn Kim Sơn during a recent ceremony honouring outstanding teachers on the occasion of the Vietnamese Teachers’ Day (November 20).

He said expectations for the education sector were demonstrated through major orientations and tasks, opening a new development stage with many challenges, but also huge opportunities.

The education sector would have to overcome numerous obstacles in the near future and it was time to concentrate on education reform and raising the standard of preschool education following a successful initial reform in general education and higher education, he said.

Implementing a new curriculum for preschool education, universalising preschool education by age, making sure there are enough teachers and facilities, mobilising social resources and creating an environment where teachers feel safe in their work were just a few of the tasks that must be completed, he added.

It was time to complete the first reform cycle of general education curriculum and textbooks. There needed to be an assessment of general education reform to gain experience and adjust necessary content to conduct the in-depth reform. That would look towards perfecting and improving the quality of education, supporting underprivileged areas, promoting favourable areas and moving towards international standards, Sơn said.

Modernising classrooms, labs and research equipment would be one of the urgent tasks that must be completed for higher education in addition to the thorough application of university autonomy, he said.

“As science and technology advance at a rapid pace, new educational models like virtual and digital education are anticipated to emerge,” he said.

For continuing education and building a learning society, lifelong learning, localities needed to complete the network of continuing education facilities and diversify educational programmes while promoting illiteracy eradication, focusing on places with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions, places with high illiteracy rates, he said.

The entire education sector must remain resolute and fulfil a number of prerequisites in order to successfully complete the important objectives. Particularly significant was the human element, which usually consists of teachers and education managers, he said.

"Education is a difficult task. True education, education with the right ethics, education towards high quality, attracting learners, spreading the spirit of creativity and endless learning inspiration to learners is even more difficult,” he said.

As the person who proposed making November 20 the Vietnamese Teachers' Day, Associate Professor Trần Xuân Nhĩ, former Deputy Minister of Education and Training, said the fourth Industrial Revolution allowed learners to study online, learn anywhere and by any means.

“Learning does not only take place at school, knowledge is no longer exclusively in the hands of teachers. Learners can acquire knowledge from many different sources. To maintain the teachers’ role and fulfil their tasks, teachers must also innovate and transform themselves to become ‘4.0 teachers’,” he told Giáo Dục&Thời Đại (Education and Times) online newspaper.

It must be the responsibility of educators to plan educational activities, mentor and instruct students in learning, and gather and analyse data. Teachers needed to be able to help students apply and synthesise the knowledge and abilities they have acquired in order to identify and resolve issues in real life, he said.

Teachers must know how to self-study and apply the knowledge they have learned to their professional activities as well as to their lives in order to be a good example and know how to teach their students, he said.

He said teachers were not given adequate attention. Many teachers were unable to take care of their personal lives since they did not receive enough attention.

"After visiting isolated and underprivileged places, I've come to the conclusion that teachers' lives have improved since then. However, in practice, the pay and housing conditions have not been adequate," he said.

The draft Law on Teachers which has been submitted for National Assembly’s discussion this month proposed that teachers will have their salaries ranked highest in the administrative salary scale.

Minister Sơn said: “We want to emphasise that salary policy for teachers is necessary and needs to be considered in the draft law.

“Our Party and State always identify education and training as the top national policy, a strategic priority. Resolution No. 29-NQ/TW lays out the pay policy for teachers in detail, and the Politburo recently reaffirmed it in Conclusion 91-KL/TW, indicating the Party and State's concern.

"Despite some modifications over the previous few years, we haven't really done anything to change the teacher pay policy. There are still a lot of challenges.

"The State budget pays wages to over a million teachers. We still need to balance the State budget in order to address our concerns about teacher wages. Although our nation has emerged from poverty, there is still a great demand for resources for national development and workers in general—not just the teaching staff—continue to face several challenges. Even if the direction is obvious, we will require more accurate resource calculations," he said.