Good students are not necessarily talented people.

(Dan Tri) - According to Professor Do Duc Thai, we should not equate real talents with specialized students and students who win national and international awards.

Solving math problems for gifted students is like running a 100m sprint.

At the Conference on training Olympic teams for the 2016-2025 period, Professor Do Duc Thai, Secretary of the State Council of Professors of Mathematics, said it is necessary to identify the right talent for the country, otherwise it will go in the wrong direction.

“In the past, we have done a good job of organizing competitions for gifted students and the system of specialized schools and selective classes. However, that does not mean that those students are completely talented and we should not equate real talents with specialized students and students who have won prizes in national and international competitions.

I know a very young friend, a former student at a specialized school in Ninh Binh . He did not participate in any competitions but is an outstanding young talent when he was awarded the highest professorship, with an absolute number of votes at a prestigious university in Germany," he said.

Prof. Dr. Do Duc Thai, Secretary of the State Council of Professors of Mathematics (Photo: Tran Hiep).

According to Professor Do Duc Thai, we need to have a new perspective, build criteria, and expand mechanisms to develop talent.

Scientific research is very different from solving problems for a gifted student exam. If not careful, it will distort the real purpose of gifted student exams, creating negativity.

He said that solving a problem for a gifted student exam is no different from training a 100m runner. Meanwhile, training scientists and talented people is equivalent to running a marathon for a lifetime.

Sharing more about talent and talent training today, Professor Do Duc Thai said that we currently need talent because the economy and global competition are shifting to a knowledge economy.

Accordingly, competition between countries is no longer about cheap labor but about the intellectual and knowledge content of each product.

There is no country with a population of about 100 million whose development focuses only on services and non-technology sectors.

Therefore, we must have high-quality human resources to ensure technological transformation, especially to effectively implement Resolution 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation and national digital transformation.

Nguyen Le Thao Anh, Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, Gold Medal at the International Chemistry Olympiad (Photo: M. Ha).

Need awards or talent?

Regarding the formation of a talented team, according to Professor Thai, all countries in the world go through the following steps: Nurturing, training and using talented people, in which the core is the treatment regime.

Along with that, according to him, to have a team of talented people for the country, it is necessary to re-examine the training goals of specialized schools and specialized classes, especially in the context of digital transformation. Closely connect specialized schools with leading domestic and international scientists; increase the number of STEM subjects.

In particular, according to this expert, it is necessary to reconsider the purpose and method of organizing excellent student exams. "Do we need awards or do we need to train talents for the country?", he asked.

On this basis, he also proposed to build a national scholarship fund to grant full scholarships to genuine young talents; have a mechanism to prioritize job positions for young talents, and ensure a worthy income for this group.

“The lessons from South Korea, China and Singapore are worth learning. We need to look at the truth: how many students who stood at the pinnacle of glory in the “Road to Olympia” competitions are now studying and working for the country? What percentage of students who won international prizes are now only supporting the country from afar?

"If these people directly contribute every day to creating a generation of good students and good young scientists for the country, it will be much better," he shared.

In the period 2016-2024, 220 Vietnamese students won regional Olympic prizes, and 146 students won international prizes. 66% of students who won international prizes went to study abroad in the US, Singapore, France, Hong Kong (China), Australia, UK, etc.

Most students who study abroad often stay in that country to work because of the benefits (high salary) as well as the desire to improve themselves in countries with advanced science.

(Source: Ministry of Education and Training)

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/hoc-sinh-gioi-chua-chac-da-la-nhan-tai-20251107162855359.htm