Teachers' low proficiency challenges Vietnam's ambition to make English second language: US testing giant

The English proficiency of Vietnamese teachers is the biggest challenge to making English a second language in schools, according to the U.S.-based Educational Testing Service (ETS), following a survey of 35,000 teachers across six provinces and cities.

Pushkar Saran, executive director of institutional products for Southeast Asia and South Asia at ETS, said the organization was impressed by Vietnam's plan to make English a second language in schools from 2025 to 2035, with a vision extending to 2045, describing it as "ambitious."

"I have visited various countries where English is not a second language, but I have not seen such a very detailed and comprehensive paper that lays out what needs to happen within the country over the next 20 years to improve English education and make English a second language from a foreign language," he said on the sidelines of an international conference on educational cooperation in the digital era, organized by the education misistry in Hanoi this week.

A teacher and sutdents during a class at a primary school in Ho Chi Minh City, August 2026. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

However, he said the country faces challenges in both the quantity and quality of its teaching workforce in achieving the goal, he said.

ETS, a nonprofit organization specializing in educational testing, assessment and research, and the ministry recently surveyed 35,000 teachers in six localities, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Ninh, Dong Nai, Lao Cai and Phu Tho, using the four-skill TOEIC Link test.

Although participating teachers generally considered themselves proficient in English, the survey found that the competency of both English teachers and teachers of other subjects "needs a lot of improvement," he said.

The group of teachers with strong English skills was relatively small, and even those teachers had areas that needed improvement, the survey found.

"Even the best of the teachers have to do a lot of work to improve their English proficiency to the highest bands. So, once teachers understand English, only then will they be able to relay the education and literacy to the students. So, I think one is the entire thing about the teachers," he said.

Pushkar Saran, executive director of institutional products for Southeast Asia and South Asia at ETS, in Hanoi, Oct. 8, 2026 . Photo by VnExpress/Duong Tam

Another challenge is a shortage of teachers. According to the ministry, Vietnam will need an additional 22,000 English teachers at preschools and primary schools over the next five years to achieve its goal of making English a second language in schools.

To address both challenges, Saran said Vietnam would need extensive teacher training programs implemented on a large scale over an extended period, with careful, step-by-step implementation.

ETS is working with the ministry to explore the use of artificial intelligence in teacher training and the assessment of student learning outcomes.

Founded in 1947, ETS is the world's largest private educational testing and assessment organization. It administers widely used standardized tests, including the TOEFL, TOEIC and GRE, the latter of which is used for graduate school admissions.