Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son joins remotely from Vietnam the roundtable. Photo: Ministry of Education and Training

Son on August 23 joined remotely from Vietnam the roundtable for education ministers from ASEAN and China, held as part of the 15th China-ASEAN Education Cooperation Week (CAECW) underway in Guizhou, China, Viet Nam News said.

The CACW is co-organised by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education of China, China-ASEAN Centre, and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisations (SEAMEO).

In his remarks delivered at the hybrid roundtable, Son said his ministry has pushed for online and televised classes at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the school closure period in Vietnam, around seven million students learned virtually, 70% used only the mobile devices of their parents/guardians, while up to 1.5 million didn't have access to any digital device to aid their study, according to the minister.

A student study online. Photo: VNA

The lack of infrastructure not only affects the quality of learning but also leads to inequality in education, and digital transformation must be connecting people instead of deepening existing gaps.

To minimise the risks from digital transformation, Son said that at the micro level, it would be necessary to ensure that teachers and students have enhanced access to information to build up professional skills in the digital environment.

At the macro level, it would be necessary to pay attention to the relationship between the development of technology and the fundamental impacts on the teaching-learning process and the pedagogical environment. This would require deep understanding of the interrelationships between technology and people, he noted.

Pressure from the pandemic has provided good opportunities for the acceleration of digital transformation in education, he said, adding that the core solutions for digital transformation are closely associated with the improvement of human resources and the expansion of research cooperation in the field.

Enhancing ASEAN-China education cooperation

Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan called on ASEAN member countries and China to enhance exchanges and cooperation in education. Photo: VI SA

In her opening remarks via video link at the 2022 China-ASEAN Education Cooperation Week, Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan called on ASEAN member countries and China to enhance exchanges and cooperation in education to inject new impetus into the ASEAN-China relationship, according to Xinhua news agency.

The mechanism of the China-ASEAN Education Cooperation Week has yielded fruitful results in personnel exchanges, educational exchanges and scientific research coordination since it was established 15 years ago, Sun said, adding that it has become the most representative inter-governmental educational cooperation platform between the two sides.

Sun said that China stands ready to work with the ASEAN countries to plan an education development vision of cooperation for 2030 on the new starting point and expand participants and cooperation scope.

Sun noted China is willing to improve educational connectivity with the ASEAN countries, deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and promote China-ASEAN educational cooperation to be more innovative, inclusive and sustainable, so as to inject new impetus into the China-ASEAN relationship./.

An art performance staged by ASEAN students at the event. Photo: Nhandan

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