Expanding STEM education to lay foundation for technology workforce
With diverse production facilities, enterprises, craft villages, and training and research institutions, Hai Phong has the conditions to expand STEM beyond the classroom.
The Ministry of Education and Training is seeking comments on a draft regulation on the organization of STEM education activities in general education, aimed at concretizing the Education Law.
Under the draft, STEM is organized in three forms, including STEM lessons, STEM experiential activities, and students' scientific and technical research; scientific inquiry or engineering design processes may be applied. Depending on the level of education, content such as programming, control, robotics, data, artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) can be appropriately integrated.
According to teacher Vu Van Sang, Principal of Tu Ky High School in Tu Ky Commune, integrating programming, robotics, data, AI and IoT appropriately at each level of education helps schools proactively incorporate technology into STEM with a clear orientation. This gives students more opportunities to access practical technology and better understand future career requirements.
With its diverse system of production facilities, enterprises, craft villages, and training and research institutions, Hai Phong has the conditions to expand STEM beyond the classroom. In Gia Phuc Commune, the Hoang Dieu leather footwear craft village is associated with materials, machinery, technical processes and increasingly high technology requirements. Teacher Pham Van Nhuan, Principal of Gia Phuc 2 Secondary School, said that expanding STEM beyond the classroom helps students see more clearly the connection between knowledge and practice. Organizing STEM activities at production facilities and craft villages creates conditions for schools to make use of “open classrooms,” linking STEM with local education, career experiences and future orientation.
In Hai Phong, STEM education already has a foundation. The Department of Education and Training has developed a plan to implement STEM from the preschool level. At the primary level, STEM/STEAM activities are incorporated into lessons, experiential activities and projects; many schools have proactively developed STEM classrooms and applied AI. At the lower and upper secondary levels, STEM continues to expand through lessons, festivals, clubs, and competitions in scientific research, Robotics and AI, as well as products that address practical problems.
From the unified direction of the education sector to the initiative and creativity of individual educational institutions, STEM is gradually becoming a familiar educational approach, contributing to the development of scientific thinking, creative capacity, teamwork skills and the ability to apply knowledge to life among students.
According to Do Duy Hung, Deputy Director of the Hai Phong Department of Education and Training, in the 2026–2027 academic year, the education sector will continue to orient STEM/STEAM to be linked with subjects, experiential activities and career guidance; develop scientific thinking, design thinking, problem-solving capacity, creativity and teamwork; while also strengthening the application of digital technology and AI and coordination with universities, research institutions, enterprises and production facilities.
If issued, the circular will provide a unified legal framework for STEM education to be organized systematically and flexibly, with stronger links to universities, research institutions, enterprises and practical production. This is an important foundation for Vietnam's education sector, including Hai Phong, to gradually prepare a high-quality technology workforce for the future.
THE ANH