Opportunities come with challenges

A class at Cau Giay Secondary School ( Hanoi ). Illustration photo.

Many outstanding advantages

Mr. Ha Xuan Nham - Head of SecondaryEducation Department (Hanoi Department of Education and Training) said: From the 2017-2018 school year to now, Hanoi has 2 public high schools piloting the dual training program of Vietnamese high school diploma and British high school diploma, which are Chu Van An High School and Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted. At the secondary school level, there are 7 schools piloting the dual training program of Vietnamese high school diploma and Cambridge IGCSE certificate.

At high schools, by the end of May 2023, 246 students had completed the dual degree program and taken the A-Level exam, including: Chu Van An High School had 125 students, Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted had 121 students. According to statistics, in some exams, Hanoi students achieved a higher score than the world average.

In addition to achieving A-Level certificates, students participating in the dual degree program also achieved very good results in the Vietnamese program. 100% of students achieved Excellent academic performance and Good conduct, had good social skills, were active and had good abilities in Foreign Languages and Information Technology. Most students passed and received scholarships to prestigious universities at home and abroad. Currently, there are 13 leading universities in Vietnam that directly admit Vietnamese high school graduates with A-level certificates.

At secondary schools, according to the Ministry of Education and Training's curriculum, dual degree students are highly appreciated for their general knowledge, in which English and some other skills are considered outstanding.

100% of students are classified as Excellent or Fair. No students have difficulty with the Vietnamese program. Many dual degree students are core members participating in district, city and international competitions for excellent students.

Participating in the IGCSE exam in all subjects of the training course according to the project, students of the dual degree program all had outstanding results, the results of the following courses continuously improved and were higher than the previous courses.

Students participating in the project, in addition to achieving good results in both programs, also have many students winning high prizes in national and international competitions. Specifically, in secondary schools, there are 62 national prizes and 102 international prizes in the competitions.

By the end of May 2023, 891 students had participated in the dual program of Vietnamese secondary school and Cambridge IGCSE. Of which, 231 students participated in the ICGSE exam with outstanding results compared to the average score of subjects in the world.

As the only public school in Hanoi with two levels (high school and middle school) piloting the dual degree program and having 100% of teachers in the Board of Directors and subject groups participating in the program coordination committee, Ms. Tran Thuy Duong - Principal of Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted shared that the school's dual degree students always achieve high results in excellent student exams, specialized 10th grade exams and dual degree 10th grade exams. They also won many high scholarships from top universities in the world; always showing creativity in the main curriculum, extracurricular activities...

Le Quynh Chi - a student of class 9C2 at Ngo Si Lien Secondary School said that the dual degree program helps her develop language skills, enhance interaction and practice communication. At the same time, it helps her express herself confidently and dynamically; ready to actively communicate and integrate.

Need to try many times harder

Talking about the difficulties in implementing the project, Mr. Ha Xuan Nham added: The management team, coordinators and teachers of the Vietnamese program are in the process of accumulating experience and learning.

In addition to the assigned work when implementing the Cambridge program, teachers still continue to hold concurrent positions and ensure that they perform all other tasks in the school, so they do not have the time to participate in training, coaching and self-improvement research to deeply understand the program and effectively support students. The financial allocation for training and developing human resources for the program has not been clearly and reasonably regulated.

For students, because they have to study two programs at the same time, the weekly schedule is quite tight, the amount of homework is relatively large, so there is not enough time for extracurricular activities and self-development. At the secondary level, students who start to study some subjects in English also encounter some initial obstacles.

At high school level, Economics/Business is a new subject so the results are lower than Natural Science subjects because students have not been exposed to it since middle school...

Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training Tran The Cuong also commented: In the process of implementing the project, there are still some shortcomings that need to be overcome. Initially, a team of teachers and managers with professional qualifications, enthusiasm and responsibility has been built, but the number of teachers and managers who can take on the position of coordinators and teachers who officially teach the international Cambridge program is still too small, leading to the inability to be proactive in human resources.

There are 5 schools recognized as Cambridge member schools, but the facilities, equipment, especially the system of functional rooms still only partially meet the standards of the Cambridge program, and still need to continue to be invested, upgraded, and improved to ensure experimental activities, practice, and real-life experiences for students of the dual degree program...

To continue implementing the project in the next phase, Mr. Cuong suggested that schools continue to complete the project for the new phase, and when there is a full legal corridor, it will be submitted to competent authorities for approval.

It is necessary to focus on researching and proposing appropriate policy mechanisms to remove obstacles in the work of building a core team of teachers participating in teaching international programs in public schools, striving to have a stable team of international teachers in terms of quantity, ensuring quality according to the criteria of the Cambridge program; strengthening the school's governance role, improving the capacity to manage and operate the program, gradually taking on the main role in coordinating and implementing international programs.

At the same time, schools also need to promote the role of the new educational model in international integration, increase exchanges and experience sharing, strive to become exemplary management models, be places for learning, transfer of skills, and advanced teaching methods between teachers teaching Vietnamese educational programs and teachers teaching international educational programs; propose financial mechanisms, ensure the principles of transparency and publicity in accordance with the provisions of law...

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