Digital transformation in education: Major goals for 2023

In a bid to improve education quality, the education sector is focusing on training staff to raise awareness on digital transformation while synchronizing software, linking data, and building a digital data warehouse.

Understanding the digital transformation process

According to Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son, there are those in the sector who do not fully understand digital transformation. This leads to incorrect or passive implementation of related work. “It is important to put the interests and experience of learners, teachers and people first so that they can see the benefits of digital transformation. Information and digital learning materials are not only convenient and can be used anywhere, anytime, but also bring great efficiency to users. Management and teaching are also carried out quickly and in a timely manner, reducing intermediaries,” said the Deputy Minister. For digital transformation to be more effective, Deputy Minister Son emphasized that special attention should be paid to awareness and capacity. Only by properly understanding digital transformation and the urgency to apply it to education can stakeholders of the sector actively study, participate in training and implement the process.

Complete database in 2023

Emphasizing that the database is the most important factor for digital transformation, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son said the education sector is striving to complete the entire database by 2023. Also according to Deputy Minister Hoang Minh Son, the Ministry of Education and Training has set a target to complete all school transfer issues of students, teachers, electronic signatures, and the legal framework by 2023. The Ministry will also build a repository of learning materials for all levels of study, build a system of lectures and documents to serve self-study and as a reference for educators. Nguyen Son Hai, Director of the Information Technology Department under the Ministry of Education and Training said the ministry is implementing numerous projects with a series of plans to promote digital transformation of the sector. Specifically, the ministry is planning to provide free management software for educational institutions (general schools and preschools). This software meets basic administrative requirements of the school, the department's data standards and connects all of the data with the sector’s database. Schools are not required to use the suite's software. They can use software from other vendors, but still have to ensure the principles and requirements for connection and data sharing. The Ministry is also upgrading the database on preschool and general education, which is provided free to education and training departments and divisions across the country. It will officially deploy a database on higher education to serve the management and administration of this level of education. Regarding online teaching and learning, the ministry is considering building a shared online teaching software (LMS) to provide freely to schools. The learning materials includes electronic lectures from grade 1-12, built by pedagogy departments at universities, to expand access to educational content to all students, especially students in remote and difficult districts./.