In the 2023-2024 school year, the province has 57 out of 229 preschools, and 321 childcare groups and classes teaching English language for 8,030 children. The figure decreased by 454 children compared to that in the previous school year. The reason is that preschools teach English language to children through online platforms and robot technology, and some are linked with English language centres. The provincial Department of Education and Training has directed the Divisions of Education and Training of districts and Son La city to review and evaluate the effectiveness of the programme at preschools under their management; encourage them to coordinate with foreign language centres to implement the programme to ensure effectiveness and compliance with current regulations; and step up dissemination for parents and students to make the most of online English language learning programmes, helping children become familiar with this language in the context of lacking English teachers.

Currently, preschools introduce children to English language with two lessons per week. Each lesson lasts 25 - 30 minutes for children aged three and four and 30-35 minutes for those aged five. Tuition fees are paid by parents in accordance with the agreement between the school and the foreign language centre. The quality of children's English language learning is increasingly improving. However, the rate of children gaining access to English is low, the expansion of English language teaching and learning at preschools remains slow, and the effectiveness of socialisation in organising English language-related activities and communications work is not high.

At the workshop, participants discussed methods to implement the programme in the context that schools and educational institutions do not have English language teachers. Units providing documents and learning materials provided guidance on utilizing e-learning resources associated with the book set; introduced and practiced online teaching tools applied to English language subject, and provided information about the ‘Getting acquainted with English’ book series for preschool children, thus contributing to improving the quality of the English language familiarisation programme for preschool children at educational institutions.