April 2022 saw this major online event being held with almost 450 participating. The event celebrated the completion of three joint UK–VN projects, as part of the 2021–22 pilot Digital Learning Innovation Fund. It also saw the official launch of seven new UK–VN partnership projects in 2022–23.
These new projects include two research projects covering aspects of English language teaching development, assessment and testing. In addition, five projects will introduce the Teacher Activity Groups (TAGs) concept to Viet Nam. These projects will establish approximately 50 Communities of Practice (known as TAGs) in 11 provinces across the length and breadth of Viet Nam, targeting over 1,200 English teachers, including teachers of maths and science who teach through English.
The event was organised by the British Council Viet Nam English Programmes team in collaboration with the Viet Nam Ministry of Education and Training’s National Foreign Languages Project (NFLP) and the UK Government’s Department of International Trade (DIT). At the opening of the ceremony, MOET’s Dr Pham Quang Hung noted that, ‘the projects we are celebrating today demonstrate the long-term commitment and strategic cooperation between our two countries’. Indeed, British Council Country Director Donna McGowan reiterated that stating, ‘next year we are excited to be celebrating our 30th anniversary of cooperation and partnership in Viet Nam’.
Meanwhile, in his opening remarks, the UK Government’s International Education Champion, Sir Steve Smith, welcomed the fact that the projects are using ‘digital technologies to extend the reach into all areas of Viet Nam, including some of the most remote and disadvantaged provinces, in order to increase equity and diversity in teaching and learning’. In response to the event, Mai Nguyen from Manchester Metropolitan University concluded ‘It's been a while since I was able to attend such a great ELT event where so many of us share the common goals of helping teachers and each other and learning and developing together. It was precious to hear and learn from the experiences of the different projects. I look forward to the exciting next steps’.
If you would like to watch the event, a recording is available on the British Council Viet Nam's YouTube channel Partners in Innovation playlist. Here you can also find recent webinars by the three Digital Learning Innovation Fund projects, who share the publicly available teacher resources created as part of their projects. You can also find webinars by recent PRELIM projects in Viet Nam. Photos of the event and details of forthcoming events can also be found on our dedicated Facebook page.
If you would like to learn more about the event and the next steps of the various projects, please contact davideg.gilmartin@britishcouncil.org.vn or nga.le@britishcouncil.org.vn from the English Programmes team.