In his words: “The British Council gives teachers more confidence
of Division Assistant Manager (2015), and then once more,
and develops skills that are key to managing learning effectively.
assuming the role of Head of the Secondary Education (Middle
We don’t need a lot of fancy equipment yet can still achieve high
and High School) Division in 2017. Khiet also directly provides
quality learning outcomes using what we have readily available,
technical assistance and leadership for foreign language
for example, posters or other common materials like white boards,
teaching (English, French and Russian) across the province.
paper and pens, cue cards and so on. Even later on in my career when I underwent methodology refresher training in other countries
While working at the Education Department as a specialist,
like Singapore, Australia, and the USA, I found the training received
the technical advice, coaching support and innovative
was not as effective as that offered by the British Council.”
training he has provided to English teachers in Nam Dinh province has helped steadily improve the quality of language
Khiet’s courses with the British Council were very much a turning
teaching and learning. By 2015, the teacher refresher training
point for him. The training programmes equipped him with a
programme had attained a much higher standard through
range of useful classroom management strategies and helped him
the Department’s partnership with the British Council:
develop a wide repertoire of activities to best engage students and facilitate successful learning. Students often say that the
“I recommended increased international cooperation to the
hours in Khiet’s classes pass so quickly, with his career thriving
department leadership, and in 2015, Nam Dinh Education and
ever since his early successes as a trainee. “I first worked with
Training Department started its partnership with the British
the British Council in late 2001, and by putting what I learned
Council as part of the Teaching for Success initiative. The British
to use, I was able to coach my high-performing students to win
Council came to every school and sat in classes to diagnose,
first or second prizes consistently in the years that followed.”
survey and interview, and from there put together a specific training programme. Teachers were shown a demonstration class
Starting as a district school teacher, Khiet was initially promoted
delivered by a British Council teacher and received lesson planning
to a position at a provincial school, the Le Hong Phong high
support before returning to their own schools to implement what
school for gifted students. There, he continued to coach high-
they had learned in their own classrooms. Teachers’ own practice
performing English students many of whom went on to win many
was observed by supervisors and observations were followed by
prestigious national prizes. Two years later, he was transferred
debriefing sessions to draw out lessons learnt and help teachers
to the Nam Dinh Department of Education and Training as an
improve. The British Council has been very disciplined, meticulous
English specialist. He was then promoted again to the position
and professional in what they do, focusing on progress before, during and after the training. It has been very effective.”
The programme to develop the quality of secondary English teaching in Vietnam (Vietnam English Teacher and Trainer Network (VTTN) provided by the British Council and the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training was highly successful between 1999 and 2012. This programme reached out to every high school in 20 out of 64 provinces and cities across the country. Approximately 10,000 English teachers were trained in the most forward-thinking and effective methodologies for the teaching of modern languages. VTTN was also a trailblazing effort in terms of partnership engagement and investment: local governments provided the educational infrastructure while the British Council offered the curriculum and experts.
The British Council and Vietnam | 25 years together
Khiet disclosed that proficiency in foreign languages had been a well-known weakness among students in Nam Dinh, particularly listening and speaking ability. This is no longer the case as remarkable improvements have been made. Since the introduction of Project 2020 (a Ministry of Education and Training programme focused on embedding the teaching and learning of foreign languages in the national curriculum over the period 2008–2020), and along with the province’s own efforts and initiatives, as well as of course the vital partnership with the British Council, Nam Dinh has become an example of best practice for the whole country. Nam Dinh’s national high school exam results ranked 9th country-wide in 2017, improving again to 5th in 2018 (even better than some major cities that enjoy more favourable economic and international integration conditions).