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Integrating foreign languages into education syllabus is normal occurrence: experts

March 7, 2021 by vietnamnet.vn

The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has issued a pilot Korean language curriculum to be applied at general schools that have a 10-year teaching system.

Integrating foreign languages into education syllabus is normal occurrence: experts

Under the decision which took effect on February 9, Korean and German are defined as “first foreign languages”.

The Ministry said Korean language would be taught from the third to 12th grades. The pilot teaching will be implemented in areas with high demand which have necessary conditions in terms of teachers and material facilities.

Nguyen Xuan Thanh from MOET on March 4 stressed that under the decision, Korean has become one of the first foreign languages on a trial basis. The curriculum for teaching Korean as a second foreign language has already been released.

Thanh said this doesn’t mean that Korean will be a compulsory subject for all students. The phrase here is just used to modify the phrase ‘first foreign language’. This means that each student has to study one first foreign language and can choose among the first foreign languages listed by MOET.

According to an education expert, there are three categories related to subjects – compulsory subjects, selective subjects and elective/optional subjects.

With ‘selective subjects’, there are many choices for students. Optional subjects are not mandatory and students can register to study the subjects if they want.

In the case of the Korean language, it should be referred to as a selective subject.

He said integrating Korean and German into the national education syllabus is a normal occurence and this will benefit students.

The subject will help develop the ability of communicating in Korean language. It will also help students with skills in studying foreign languages in general, thus satisfying requirements for labor force quality.

Under the decision, students will reach the first level when finishing the sixth grade, the second level when finishing the 9th grade and third level when finishing the 12th grade after having 1,155 learning periods (45 minutes for each period).

The teaching of foreign languages at general schools has been implemented for many years. First foreign languages, the selective subjects, include English, French, Chinese, Russian and Japanese. Foreign second languages that are optional subjects include Korean and German.

After a period of teaching Korean and German on a trial basis in some localities, MOET realized that there was increasingly high demand from students.

The decision is keeping with the agreements signed between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Germany on teaching their languages at Vietnamese schools.

Thanh Hung

Trade between Vietnam and RCEP nations reaches US$240 billion

November 20, 2020 by vov.vn

According to statistics released by the General Department of Vietnam Customs, China represents the largest market among the 14 RCEP countries that the nation has established trade ties with. Indeed, turnover between the two sides reached US$103.5 billion during the first 10 months of the year.

Of the figure, the value of Vietnamese export commodities stood at US$37.9 billion, while the nation’s imports came to US$65.6 billion.

Furthermore, two-way trade turnover with the RoK hit US$53.5 billion, including US$16 billion from Vietnamese exports and US$37.5 billion from its imports.

Indeed, import and export trade turnover was recorded at more than US$32 billion with Japan, ASEAN at US$43.4 billion, Australia at US$6.77 billion and New Zealand at US$870 million.

This comes following the RCEP being signed on November 14 by leaders of 15 countries from the Asia-Pacific region that make up 29% of global GDP. The pact was signed online by leaders of 10 ASEAN member states, along with Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea (RoK) as part of the 37th ASEAN Summit, chaired by the nation in Hanoi.

The purpose of the RCEP is to help establish long-term stable export markets for ASEAN members in the context of risky and uncertain global supply chains. In addition, it will also create a legally binding regional framework suitable for trade policy, investment, intellectual property, e-commerce, and dispute resolution, among other things. Overall, the international partnership aims to create a fair trading environment throughout the region.

Agricultural sector urged to devise concrete strategies to utilize RCEP

December 22, 2020 by vov.vn

Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, emphasised that the RCEP is anticipated to facilitate greater penetration for local agricultural products, such as durians and passion fruit, into the Chinese market due to the northern neighbour currently only importing nine types of farm produce from the country.

Le Thi Nguyen Thuy, deputy director of MINA Import and Export Joint Stock Company, pointed out that the RCEP will serve to create greater opportunities for the company as it strives to expand its market share in places such as China, along with other ASEAN members.

Thuy duly noted that with the firm’s agricultural products penetrating into various demanding markets, it will make it easier for them to meet the necessary requirements relating to product quality when exporting to other countries through the trade deal.

Furthermore, the trade deal will help organic products from Vinamit to gain entry to fastidious markets such as Japan and the Republic of Korea in line with the tariff reduction roadmap, according to Vu Quoc Anh Thu, marketing director of Vinamit Joint Stock Company.

Whilst also enjoying a number of advantages, the RCEP is anticipated to increase the influx of foreign goods into the nation whilst creating fierce competition in terms of the price in the domestic market. This will therefore encourage local enterprises to devise suitable price strategies in an effort to compete with foreign rivals, noted Thu.

Despite numerous challenges, such as congestion of goods at border gates due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic early this year, the agricultural sector raked in approximately US$3.3 billion, said the general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, adding that with the benefits brought about by the RCEP, the association is poised to gross an export turnover of US$4 billion next year.

Vietnam reports only one local coronavirus infection on Sunday

March 7, 2021 by tuoitrenews.vn

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health recorded only one domestic COVID-19 case on Sunday, a day before the nation starts mass inoculation with AstraZeneca.

The latest local infection was registered in Hai Duong Province, which is the country’s current epicenter.

The patient had been exposed to an infection and been quarantined since February 25.

The health ministry also logged four imported cases the same day, including two in Bac Ninh Province in the north and two in Kien Giang Province in the south.

Vietnam had gone nearly two months without any domestic COVID-19 cases before it found the first one on January 27 and confirmed it one day later, according to the Ministry of Health’s data.

A total of 892 local cases have been announced in 13 provinces and cities since then, making it the most serious wave to have struck Vietnam after the first-ever COVID-19 patient was announced in the country on January 23, 2020.

Hai Duong alone accounts for 708 cases, while Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have confirmed 35 and 36 patients, respectively.

The southern city has recorded zero new local cases for 24 days.

Vietnam has recorded 2,512 coronavirus cases as of Sunday night, including 1,585 local infections and 35 virus-related fatalities, according to the Ministry of Health’s data.

A total of 1,920 patients have recovered from the respiratory disease.

The dead had suffered from comorbid medical problems, including 31 in Da Nang, three in Quang Nam Province, and one in Quang Tri Province.

Vietnam will start vaccinating people in the said provinces and cities as well as other priority groups , including frontline workers, diplomats, military and police officers, and teachers on Monday.

The country currently has 117,600 AstraZeneca vaccine doses it received on February 24 .

Vietnam aims to obtain 90 million COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of the year, including 30 million through the COVAX scheme co-led by WHO, 30 million through AstraZeneca, and the rest through negotiations with U.S. producers.

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