The Ministry of Education and Training is concerned about the fact that many students who won Olympic prizes stay abroad after studying abroad.

Many Vietnamese students, after achieving high results in regional and international Olympic competitions, have chosen to study abroad and most of them stay abroad to work. This is something that worries the Ministry of Education and Training.

Professor Huynh Van Chuong, Director of the Department of Quality Management (Ministry of Education and Training), stated this fact at the conference summarizing the training and fostering of regional and international Olympic teams for the 2016-2025 period, which took place on the morning of November 7.

According to Mr. Chuong, the Ministry of Education and Training as well as the education sector and localities have paid attention to and invested in discovering, training and nurturing excellent students. The prize-winning students have been promptly rewarded and honored by all levels and businesses. However, after the exams, the work of in-depth training and high-level development to continue using and nurturing this group of students is still neglected.

Mr. Chuong said that what the Ministry of Education and Training is concerned about is that most students, after achieving high results in international and regional Olympic competitions, go to study abroad, many of them stay.

“Not just stopping at medals and certificates, these students still have a long road of about 40 years of dedication, so how can we get them to return to the country?”, Mr. Chuong raised the issue and said that we do not have specific policies to connect these students with the process of using and reusing them in the country's innovation and development.

Professor Huynh Van Chuong, Director of the Department of Quality Management (Ministry of Education and Training), expressed concern about the situation where many students achieved high prizes in regional and international Olympic competitions but after studying abroad chose to stay abroad to work. Photo: Thanh Hung.

The representative of the Ministry of Education and Training said there are 3 reasons leading to this.

Firstly, there is no specific training mechanism to attract and nurture these talented people, leading most of them to study abroad.

Besides, there is no recruitment mechanism, proper treatment, and suitable working environment for these subjects after they complete their undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs, leading to many of them being hesitant to return to contribute to the country even though they want to.

Third, a network of contacts with students after their achievements has not been built to mobilize them to serve the country's innovation and development process.

Mr. Chuong said that from this year, the Ministry of Education and Training will coordinate with relevant parties to develop a national strategic project on discovering, training, fostering, using and rewarding young talents.

The representative of the Ministry of Education and Training also asked domestic universities and research institutes to build excellent programs to attract and retain award-winning students to study and research.

“How can we keep excellent students studying in the country, and then Olympic medalists can study this program and it will be no different from the international program? This is one of the things that we are concerned about and will definitely act for these excellent programs in the near future,” said Mr. Chuong, adding that “if we can keep students studying at universities in Vietnam, it will also contribute to raising the quality of universities in Vietnam, thereby increasing their rankings in the world .”

Along with that, pilot students with special abilities will be able to skip grades.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong spoke at the conference.

Mr. Nguyen Van Doa, a teacher at Bac Giang High School for the Gifted (Bac Giang province), shared that after each international competition, pride always comes with anxiety. Despite achieving excellent results, most students still have to find their own path with their families, and arrange for scholarships and finances to pursue their passion. “Many students have the potential to become leading scientists, but the country does not have a strong enough support mechanism for long-term development,” said Mr. Doa.

According to Mr. Doa, investing in students who won Olympic prizes is not only a recognition of individual efforts but also an investment in the intellectual future of the country. Therefore, there needs to be a mechanism for international recognition and treatment, from creating employment conditions, research environments to appropriate treatment regimes, so that students have a reason to return to contribute. At the same time, he emphasized the building of an ecosystem for developing talents and strengthening international connections to retain and promote these excellent factors.

At the conference, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong also recognized teachers of schools, especially teachers of the national team, for bringing achievements to the country's education sector.

“The glory of a teacher is transformed into the success of his students. When students win international competitions and medals, the whole world and the country know their names; but not many people know the names of the teachers who have taught them since kindergarten and high school. The teachers who teach the national team, regardless of time, day or night, when they suddenly think of a solution, they call their students, and even take care of their meals, accommodation, and buying materials... These are the silent heroes,” Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong shared.

Compared to the period 2005-2015, the results of international and regional Olympic competitions of Vietnamese students in the period 2016-2025 have increased in both quality and quantity. Specifically, there were 48 more medals of all kinds and 50 more gold medals.

During the 2016-2025 period, Vietnamese teams participating in regional and international Olympic competitions achieved outstanding results: 362 medals, including 112 Gold Medals, 140 Silver Medals, 89 Bronze Medals and 21 Certificates of Merit. This achievement is 48 medals higher than the 2006-2015 period (during this period there were only 62 Gold Medals).

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, for many consecutive years, Vietnam has been in the top 10 countries with the best results in the Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Informatics Olympiads. Notably, the Chemistry Olympiad team for the 2020-2025 period had 24 students participating, all of whom won prizes, including 21 Gold Medals, 3 Silver Medals and always maintained in the top 10 of participating countries and territories. Vietnam also has 10th grade students who won International Olympic Gold Medals in Mathematics and Physics.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/bo-gd-dt-tran-tro-viec-nhieu-hoc-sinh-gioi-dat-giai-olympic-o-lai-nuoc-ngoai-2460472.html