Current life of the first Olympia Champion of Ams school

One of the rare Olympia champions returned to his homeland, determined to spread knowledge.

Phan Minh Duc (born in 1992), a former student majoring in Physics at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, is the champion of the Road to Olympia in the 10th year, and also the first champion of this school. This victory helped him become the first contestant from Hanoi to win the Olympia laurel wreath.

After the competition, he received a scholarship of 35,000 USD and studied Finance - Accounting at Swinburne University of Technology (Australia). Graduating with honors, Minh Duc was invited to participate in postgraduate research and transferred directly to a PhD in Energy Economics at Swinburne University (Australia). He stopped studying because he realized that he was not suitable for this field.

Mr. Minh Duc at the time of joining the program and now.

Pursuing the philosophy of 'emphasizing critical thinking'

Having lived abroad for 13 years, most of Minh Duc's work has been in the field of education . In college, he participated in supporting students of the following year, taking on the role of teaching assistant from the second year. He also volunteered to participate in the free English teaching program for international students, tutored and, with his friends, founded a small center specializing in Math exam preparation.

Through the process of teaching and interacting with many generations of students, Mr. Minh Duc realized that the common point of Vietnamese students is limited critical thinking skills, the mentality of "fear of asking, fear of making mistakes", leading to not fully demonstrating their abilities and difficulty in being accurately assessed in terms of expertise. He believes that the cause stems from the one-way education model, where teachers play the role of imparting knowledge, while students mainly take notes, rarely ask questions or express opinions.

Minh Duc gradually formed the idea of ​​changing the problem from the “root”, starting from the smallest levels of education. Instead of playing the role of communicating and providing answers, he prioritized asking questions to students, encouraging them to find their own way. For him, the process of finding the answer was more valuable than knowing the correct answer.

That thought led him to the teaching profession and became the motivation for him to steadfastly pursue the path of contributing to Vietnamese education after returning home.

In the early days of returning to Vietnam, Minh Duc began pursuing the goal of changing the limitations in teaching and learning methods. Realizing that many Vietnamese students were still confused when accessing free, unreliable online resources, he decided to support them himself by organizing free exam correction sessions via the Zoom platform. To have a place to work, he temporarily borrowed a friend's room to prepare lectures and connect with students.

From the initial free teaching sessions, Mr. Minh Duc gradually built a clearer direction for his educational path. He is currently the Academic Director of Future Class - under the Future Me Education Project. Future Me was founded in 2019, initially operating online, focusing on career orientation and sharing learning experiences for students.

In 2024, when returning to Vietnam, Minh Duc's team continued to develop Future Class with the goal of building modern learning models to help students practice the necessary skills for the future.

The laurel wreath was placed at Mr. Duc's workplace.

When teaching and learning involve artificial intelligence (AI), Mr. Minh Duc sees this as both an advantage when learners can access a huge source of information, and a challenge if they are too dependent, leading to limited critical thinking ability. In his class, he guides students to use AI as a tool to dialogue and debate their own questions, thereby finding the most suitable answers.

During his many years of teaching, he has consistently pursued an educational philosophy that emphasizes critical thinking and proactive learning, considering it the foundation for students’ long-term development. “I do not dare to consider myself an educator or an influential person. I simply pursue my own goals. I hope that after 60 years of teaching, there will still be students who remember me, just like my grandfather,” he said.

Always keep an eye on the Olympia “climbers”

After 15 years of looking back on his journey to the Road to Olympia, Mr. Minh Duc said that it was a special opportunity for him to experience an international learning environment and accumulate valuable knowledge and experience. More than a milestone, the program is also a way for him to fulfill a promise from his elementary school days, when he sat watching Olympia with his family and secretly wished to stand on that stage one day.

Mr. Minh Duc still maintains a close relationship with the Olympia community and generations of students participating in the program of Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted. Although he has been away from the Olympia stage for many years, he is interested in and follows the journey of the "climbers".

Mr. Minh Duc took a photo with generations of "climbers" from Ams school.

Recently, Mr. Minh Duc participated in the 25th season of Olympia as a way to support the younger generation to continue their journey of conquering knowledge. On that occasion, he met Tran Bui Bao Khanh - the 2025 Olympia champion and also the second champion of Hanoi - Amsterdam School after 15 years. For him, this meeting was a beautiful continuation between generations of Ams students, sharing the same passion for learning and the desire to rise up.

Giang Pham

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/cuoc-song-hien-tai-cua-quan-quan-olympia-dau-tien-truong-ams-ar984318.html