Male student scores in the top 1% of the world's primary school math scores

Khoi Nguyen, An Binh Primary School, Thu Duc City, was honored at the Pearson Edexcel international high school certificate awarding ceremony for nearly 1.000 students in grades 5, 9, 11 from the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, on the morning of 16 /3. These are students following the integrated program in the city's public schools.

Khoi Nguyen said he has never taken extra classes, including English. During class time, I focus maximum on the lesson, then review and prepare previous lessons to firmly grasp the knowledge.

"I like Math and Science so I always want to find new ways to solve problems besides the methods teachers teach in class," Khoi Nguyen shared. “I want to become a programmer in the future.”

Last year, Bui Trong Nguyen - Khoi Nguyen's older brother, also achieved the same achievement. Mr. Bui Duc Nguyen, 42 years old, Khoi Nguyen's father, said his two sons are close in age, love Math but rarely communicate, often taking care of their own homework. The family does not interfere with the child's education, only providing a time frame and discipline for activities.

After school, Khoi Nguyen will play basketball or soccer. In the evening, I study for about two hours and go to bed before 22pm. Every week, Khoi Nguyen has two hours to play the game. If he exceeds it, his time will be deducted from next week's time. Mr. Nguyen assessed that Khoi Nguyen was lively and active, loved climbing mountains and asking questions about everything around him.

“In 3rd grade, when he heard his mother instruct his brother to solve Math, Khoi Nguyen also jumped in to solve the problem and has liked Math ever since. Mom often asks for fun Math problems for me to solve. To be more precise, I play with Math, not study Math," Mr. Nguyen said.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, said that improving English skills, teaching Math and Science subjects in English according to international standard programs, with the output being recognized certificates Worldwide recognition is a focused goal.

"The excellent achievements achieved by Ho Chi Minh City students have proven the quality of the integrated English program and the right direction of the city's education sector," Mr. Hieu said.

In the 2022-2023 school year, all elementary, middle, and high school students taking the Pearson Edexcel certification exam are assessed to pass or higher in Mathematics. The percentage of students achieving excellent scores in this subject ranges from 70-86%, depending on the level of study. At the high school level alone, 31% of students taking the exam achieved a perfect score (9), much higher than the world average (19%).

In Science and English, almost all high school students passed. This number at the secondary school level is 96%.

The project of teaching and learning integrated Math, Science and English according to the national curriculum framework of England and Vietnam (also known as integrated English program) is allowed by the City People's Committee to be implemented in public schools about nearly ten years ago, in a voluntary form.

Students participating in the project can study the Vietnamese curriculum according to regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training and study 8-15 extra classes per week with foreign teachers, in three subjects: Math, English and Science. Tuition fees range from 3-4 million VND a month.

The program's output standard is the Pearson Edexcel certificate called iPrimary (elementary school), iLowerSecondary (secondary school) and International Baccalaureate GCSE (high school). To receive this certificate, students must pass exams in three subjects: English, Math and Science in English.