The model of specialized high schools is outdated.

Lots of space

Dr. Tran Thi Bich Ngan, Head of the research project on the giftededucation model, Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences, said that admission to specialized high schools is currently conducted through two rounds of preliminary application screening and entrance exams. This admission method shows that the exam questions are not differentiated and lack tools to measure EQ (emotional quotient)/AQ (adversity quotient) of candidates.

According to the research results of Dr. Bich Ngan, specialized subjects are being taught at 150% of the standard time; 81% of specialized students evaluate the program to help them learn deeply, but only 52% find it good support for career orientation, 48% do not find it meets the needs of studying abroad well. Another limitation of specialized schools today is that they test and evaluate the same as normal students even though the program is different.

Students take the entrance exam to specialized high schools in Hanoi in 2024. Photo: Duc Nguyen

In 2023, the research team of Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thanh Nam, Vice Principal of the University of Education (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) surveyed over 2,000 students from specialized high schools across the country.

The results show that most students choose to study at specialized schools because the teachers are very good; they want to develop their future and abilities, study at a prestigious school, have a diverse learning environment, etc.

Professor Dr. Le Anh Vinh, Director of the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences, assessed that talented students are not only a source of high-quality human resources, but also one of the country's important training strategies.

“Although the Government is interested in discovering and nurturing talented students, there are still many gaps,” said Mr. Le Anh Vinh.

There are about 10,000 students majoring in natural sciences each semester, but how many of them study and research natural sciences? Not to mention that if students take all the subjects, there will be no place to study. The current specialized model is too old and wasteful.

Although Vietnam has a system of specialized schools that produce high results, it does not have a team of well-trained teachers to teach talented students.

The current selection of gifted and talented students only stops at specialized exams, focusing on academic subjects such as Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, etc., so it cannot evaluate the overall abilities of students.

Specialized schools are tasked with discovering and nurturing talent, aiming to win national and international awards. However, the long-term goal of training high-quality human resources has not yet been clearly demonstrated.

“We want the future young generation to not only excel in academics, but also be well-rounded in many aspects such as sports, arts and, importantly, personality.

Specialized schools are not only places to teach students to be good at one field and solve a problem quickly, but also help them approach complex and practical problems," Professor Le Anh Vinh shared.

How to change the specialized school system?

Associate Professor Tran Thanh Nam emphasized that each student possesses their own talents, only differing in the time of their blossoming. However, the traditional education system fails to recognize and nurture these abilities, instead imposing rigid teaching methods, leaving students frustrated and demotivated.

How effective is it?

After 10 years of implementing the Project on Developing a System of Specialized High Schools for the 2010-2020 period, the Ministry of Education and Training still owes the public an answer to the question: How effective are specialized high schools in training and fostering talents and high-quality human resources for socio-economic development?

Dr. Nam asks the question: “What do we base our assessment on?” The answer lies not only in academic results but also in the acceptance, challenge, and love that teachers have for their students.

To effectively train talents, experts suggest that educational thinking needs to change. Instead of forcing students into a common learning model, schools should create a flexible environment that encourages creativity and self-discovery.

Professor Le Anh Vinh said that the specialized school model was suitable for the time of its establishment, training generations of students with high achievements, who later developed and contributed to society. At that time, the general level of education in Vietnam was low, and a better environment was needed for students with outstanding abilities to study with high challenging requirements.

But currently, according to Professor Le Anh Vinh, the model of specialized schools needs to answer the question of what is the purpose? Specialized schools have a number of goals: discovering talents, nurturing high-quality human resources for the future. But most leaders of the Department of Education and Training, provincial/municipal leaders look at the very short-term KPI (index) of specialized schools, which is the number of students winning national and international prizes.

Many localities not only invest in facilities but also provide large financial support to students who win prizes. But then, the winners do not continue to study and research that field?

So we need to reconsider whether the investment is effective, how many students in the specialized school system return to work locally?

From these analyses, Professor Le Anh Vinh affirmed that the specialized school system needs to change. He calculated that with 70 specialized schools today, with an average of 40 students per class, the whole country has about 2,800 students specializing in Mathematics, the same number for Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.

There are about 10,000 students majoring in natural sciences each semester, but how many of them study and research natural sciences? Not to mention that if students take all the subjects, there will be no place to study. The current specialized model is too old and wasteful.

Proposed 3-tier model

Dr. Tran Thi Bich Ngan's research group found that to educate talented students, it is necessary to organize and implement educational activities to discover, nurture and maximize the capacity of students with outstanding abilities in one or more fields.

Here, the research team also proposed an educational model for talented students as a 3-tier ecosystem including: Gifted school for outstanding students; Talent development class for students with outstanding abilities in high school and talent incubation club to nurture according to personal interests and abilities.

The leader of a specialized high school in Hanoi said that the 3-level model proposed by the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences is suitable for current reality. The specialized school model is focusing on academic knowledge and is not for the large number of students as it is now.

NGHIEM HUE

Source: https://tienphong.vn/mo-hinh-truong-thpt-chuyen-da-lac-hau-post1736440.tpo