The two areas identified by Quan would be the main targets for the 2020-2011 academic year, Huynh Cong Minh, the head of the city's Department of Education and Training, affirmed at the meeting.

School authorities would upgrade and provide necessary equipment and facilities for better teaching and learning in order to increase the number of advanced schools in the city, he said.

Building and upgrading schools and classrooms according to approved plans for city districts would also be carried out, he added.

He suggested that the People's Committee issues policies to support private schools in finding land and preferential credit to build new schools.

Efforts would also be made to increase the number of teachers and management staff using IT applications in their work.

More attention would be paid to helping students access and use information on the Internet to improve knowledge of specific disciplines as well as their English language communication skills.

There would be added focus next year on providing training in soft skills, Minh said.

Co-operation between schools and parents would be enhanced to develop the role of parents in educating their children, while schools would try to reduce class enrollments and increase the rate of learning during the day.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Tran Quang Quy commended the city educational sector for results achieved during the 2009-2010 academic year.

HCM City was the nation's first city to reach all targets set by the Ministry of Education and Training, including having all children aged five attending school, establishing advanced schools, and applying IT in management and teaching, he said.

"All students at junior and senior secondary schools have been taught basic computer skills and all the teachers are using IT to support their teaching," he noted.

"The rate of students passing the high school examinations has always been high and stable at more than 90 per cent," Quy said.

He also praised the fact that the number of students achieving national and international prizes as well as the rate of students passing the university entrance exams in the 2009-2010 academic year was higher than previous years. — VNS

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