Going to the mountains to learn digital transformation - STEM applications, modern urban areas are being overlooked

The Department of Education and Training of Vinh Cuu District (Dong Nai) recently sent a document to schools about a plan to go to Ha Giang to learn from experience, digital transformation ineducation , and STEM application. The trip is expected to last 5 days. The delegation of officials from the Department of Education and Training of Vinh Cuu District must travel to Ho Chi Minh City, then take a plane to Hanoi, then take a car to Ha Giang.

The trip was not successful because the People's Committee of Vinh Cuu district issued a document directing the temporary suspension when it was discovered that the schedule focused too much on sightseeing and tourism . However, the fact that a district in Dong Nai went to Ha Giang to learn about digital transformation and STEM experiences made many people surprised and asked why they didn't go to Ho Chi Minh City, the city right next door, with a very close travel distance, to learn from the experience?

In terms of geographical location, Dong Nai belongs to the Southeast, the most developed economic region in the country today. Dong Nai borders Ho Chi Minh City to the West, and Vinh Cuu district of Dong Nai is about 70km from the center of Ho Chi Minh City.

Go to Ha Giang
The Department of Education and Training of Vinh Cuu district (Dong Nai province) planned to spend 5 days in Ha Giang province to learn about digital transformation experiences, but had to stop because the schedule focused on sightseeing and tourism. Screenshot

Ho Chi Minh City is the most modern city in the country with a population of 10 million. In terms of education, the city has about 1.7 million students, the second largest in the country after Hanoi. The Ho Chi Minh City education sector has hundreds of schools at all levels, of which more than 350 schools have met national standards.

Regarding digital transformation and STEM application, the Ho Chi Minh City education sector has always been a pioneer, and has been building a digital transformation platform in all fields and levels of education, focusing on building a database for teaching and school management.

Up to now, Ho Chi Minh City is the only locality in the country to deploy a set of standards for recognizing digital schools with standards such as: Digital institutions, digital facilities and infrastructure, digital data, digital human resources, digital governance and management, and digital education.

The whole city has 100 schools that meet the standards of digital schools recognized by the City People's Committee. Of which, 35 are primary schools, 38 are secondary schools, 25 are high schools and 2 are primary-secondary-high school. Meanwhile, Ha Giang province is the northernmost province of the country, a mountainous province, with limited conditions for socio-economic and educational development compared to the plain provinces, especially large cities and urban areas.

If the goal is really to study, will not choose Ha Giang

Sharing with VietNamNet reporter, a teacher in Ho Chi Minh City said that Ha Giang - although it may have efforts in education, it is difficult to compare with big cities in terms of scale and quality of STEM implementation or digital transformation. If the real goal of the trip of Vinh Cuu district's Department of Education and Training is to learn from experience, then going to advanced educational centers like Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi will bring much higher practical value than Ha Giang.

According to him, STEM education and digital transformation are fields that require modern facilities, a team of highly trained teachers and advanced practical models. Ho Chi Minh City has organized international conferences on digital transformation in education and many schools have effectively applied STEM such as Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted or Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted. In Hanoi, there are also schools such as Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted that have systematically implemented this. Therefore, choosing Ha Giang to learn about digital transformation and STEM experiences is an unreasonable decision, especially when the itinerary shows that the trip is more about tourism than study.

Ho Chi Minh City Nguyen Hue 26.jpg
Many opinions expressed that Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong are very close to Vinh Cuu district (Dong Nai) and are also developed economic and educational centers, so why choose to go all the way to Ha Giang to learn about digital transformation in the field of education. Photo: Nguyen Hue

"If the Vinh Cuu district Department of Education and Training chooses Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi - rapidly developing educational and technological centers - it will be more suitable," he said.

Dr. Hoang Ngoc Vinh, former Director of the Department of Vocational Education (Ministry of Education and Training), acknowledged that the plan by the Department of Education and Training of Vinh Cuu District (Dong Nai) for officials and principals to go to Ha Giang to learn about digital transformation and STEM is causing mixed opinions in the public. The decision to suspend the trip at the last minute, although it was based on prioritizing administrative restructuring, still could not ease doubts about the rationality and true purpose of this plan.

According to him, the fact that a large-scale delegation traveled a long distance to Ha Giang, while ignoring developed economic and educational centers such as Ho Chi Minh City or Binh Duong right next door, raises big questions about the effectiveness and practicality of the trip. Ho Chi Minh City has a quite dynamic education system, daring to think and dare to do. The city is always at the forefront of foreign language and STEM education, and has many universities, so there are conditions for teachers to learn and share experiences.

In particular, information about the itinerary, which includes a large portion of the time spent on sightseeing and tourism at famous locations, reinforces concerns about the inappropriate and non-transparent use of state budget. In a context where the education sector is still facing many difficulties in terms of facilities, temporary classrooms and limited resources, spending a large amount of money on a trip whose purpose is suspected to be for study is a waste.

Dr. Hoang Ngoc Vinh said that learning from experience is necessary, but it needs to be done effectively, economically and in accordance with local conditions. Forms of exchange and learning on-site or in localities with similar conditions should be given priority.

“The incident is a wake-up call for the need to more closely monitor the use of public budgets, ensuring transparency and efficiency in all activities of the state apparatus, especially in the field of education, where exemplary behavior and the highest responsibility are needed. This lesson should also be learned in many other localities as the summer vacation approaches and study trips need to be strictly and transparently managed,” said Mr. Vinh.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/tu-dong-nai-di-2-000km-ra-ha-giang-hoc-tap-kinh-nghiem-sao-khong-chon-tphcm-2403471.html