The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) once tried to develop the system of general schools for the gifted throughout the country. However, it recently decided that there won’t be secondary schools for the gifted anymore. Analysts make common cause with the ministry, saying that the schools will put too hard pressure on small children.However, the ministry’s decision still cannot put an end to the prolonged debate about whether schools for the gifted are necessary in Vietnam.
The first class for the gifted, majoring in math was established in Vietnam in 1965, put under the Hanoi University and managed by renowned scientists and educators such as Professors Ta Quang Buu, Nguy Nhu Kon Tum and Hoang Tuy. The class aimed to select the most excellent students and develop them into high-quality human resources.
Later, a system of general schools for the gifted has been developed in some large cities and provinces, producing a lot of talents who now hold very important positions in the key universities and research institutes.
There are now nine general schools for the gifted put under the control of universities and 74 schools under the management of local education & training departments.
Students all have to attend harsh entrance exams to enter the schools, which are believed to gather the most excellent students, the ‘cream’ of the society.
Commenting about the role of schools for the gifted, Nguyen Cong Toan, a physics teacher of the High School for the Gifted under the Hanoi University of Natural Sciences, said the schools help students go ahead with their studies on basic sciences and help them use knowledge in their future studies and works.
Schools for the gifted not only aim to develop the human resources for scientific research, but also produce scholars, outstanding businessmen and professionals.
However, Toan said, “No need to go to schools for the gifted if one just wants to pass the entrance exams to university”.
Toan has his reason while giving such a warning. Many students go to schools for the gifted just to seek the opportunities for higher education.
Nguyen Anh Tuan, a parent in Bac Tu Liem district in Hanoi, said he wants his daughter, a sixth grader, to enter the Hanoi-Amsterdam School for the Gifted.
“Hanoi-Amsterdam is a strong brand in the world. If you are a student of the school, you will have bigger opportunities to obtain scholarship to study at a prestigious foreign university,” he explained.
