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  "path": "/2026/05/12/ho-chi-minh-city-teachers-ordered-to-assess-their-english-skills-as-vietnam-eyes-second-language-plan/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-12T10:59:04.000Z",
  "site": "https://vietnam-aujourdhui.info",
  "tags": [
    "Vietnam News",
    "Education",
    "Saigon",
    "Vietnam",
    "Ho Chi Minh City schools to stay closed through April 19",
    "500 foreign language centers in HCMC unlicensed: education department",
    "Covid-19 forces HCMC schools to remain closed in February"
  ],
  "textContent": "Ho Chi Minh City has ordered every teacher to self-assess their English proficiency by May 12, exempting only those who teach the language, as the country pushes to make English a second language in schools by 2035. The directive from the city’s Department of Education and Training, issued on May 11, covers preschool through high school teachers at both public and non-public schools, along with those at vocational and continuing-education institutions, Dan Tri reported. Teachers will grade their own English against the Vietnamese six-level foreign language framework, while school principals and ward, commune, and special-zone authorities compile the results into a centralized online system run by the department. The exercise will offer the megacity its first systematic picture of where its teaching workforce stands since a citywide proficiency test in May 2025, just before its administrative borders expanded. That test, administered to 50,278 teachers and education staff using a 90-minute online exam designed and standardized by Cambridge Assessment English, scored each participant on listening, reading, and writing against the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Only 3.69% reached C1, the second-highest level, and just 0.29% reached C2, the highest. The largest single group, 35.09%, scored at B1, considered intermediate. Another 11.35% sat at A2 and 9.45% at A1, the lowest level. The remaining 26.5% fell into other categories. The picture was bleakest at the elementary level. Among 22,284 primary school teachers tested, only 1.91% reached C1 and 0.17% reached C2. High school teachers performed the strongest, with 9.27% reaching C1 and 0.71% reaching C2. The Vietnamese framework now being used for self-assessment maps directly onto the CEFR scale, with its six levels corresponding to A1 through C2. The current survey implements a plan issued by the Ministry of Education and Training on Feb. 3 to support supports Vietnam’s flagship project of turning English into a second language in schools for the 2025-2035 period. Under the project, English will become a compulsory subject from grade 1 by 2030, replacing the current policy of compulsory English from grade 3. All preschools in cities and well-resourced regions must introduce English exposure within five years, with the same goal extending nationally by 2035. The ministry estimates Vietnam will need roughly 12,000 additional preschool English teachers and 10,000 additional primary English teachers, and will need to retrain or upskill 200,000 teachers to teach other subjects in English by 2030. Ho Chi Minh City is rolling out the directive at unprecedented scale. Following the July 1, 2025 merger with the neighboring provinces of Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, the new megacity contains more than 3,500 schools from preschool through high school, nearly 2.6 million students, and over 110,000 teachers, making it the country’s largest education system. By Phan Anh – VnExpress.net – May 11, 2026\n\n### Related posts:\n\n  1. Ho Chi Minh City schools to stay closed through April 19 All schools in Ho Chi Minh City will remain closed...\n  2. 500 foreign language centers in HCMC unlicensed: education department Nearly 500 foreign language centers in southern metropolis Ho Chi...\n  3. Covid-19 forces HCMC schools to remain closed in February HCMC’s 1.7 million students will stay home from school until...\n\n",
  "title": "Ho Chi Minh City teachers ordered to assess their English skills as Vietnam eyes second-language plan"
}