Vietnamese mathematical talents come from all over the country
With a system of high schools for the gifted located throughout the country, Vietnam has been able to produce many students with top mathematical skills.
Math classes (called “A0 bloc”, formerly at the Hanoi University but now at the High School for the Gifted belonging to the Hanoi University of Natural Sciences), is leading training establishments in producing IMO (International Math Olympiad) winners.
Of the 228 Vietnamese examinees attending IMOs so far, 73 came from the school.
The second biggest math talent supplier for IMOs is the High School for the Gifted, belonging to the Hanoi University of Education.
The other prestigious schools which also provide excellent math students include Chu Van An High School and the Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted in Hanoi (17 IMO competitors), the Lam Son High School for the Gifted in Thanh Hoa Province (14), Tran Phu and Thai Phien Schools in Hai Phong City (11), Phan Chu Trinh and Le Quy Don Schools in Da Nang (10), and the High School for the Gifted belonging to the HCM City National University (9).
The number of math talent supply centers has been increasing rapidly. In 1974-1976, the students attending IMOs all were from the three biggest centers in Hanoi, including high schools under the Hanoi University, University of Education and Chu Van An High School.
In 1978, Vietnam, for the first time, sent three students from non-Hanoi schools to the IMO held in that year. They were from Hai Phong City, the Vinh City University’s math majoring bloc and Hue City.
Ho Dinh Duan from Hue National School was the first southern student to take part in an IMO, a new beginning for a series of great achievements gained by the school’s students in the following years.
Since 1983, a new place-name has been added to the Vietnamese math talent center map – the Ministry of Education and Training’s center for excellent students located at Phan Chu Trinh High School in Da Nang City.
In 1984, the Lam Son High School for the Gifted in Thanh Hoa province also began to produce excellent math students.
Commenting about the achievements of the school, analysts say Lam Son, like a marathon athlete, has endured as it has been providing excellent students for Vietnam for many years.
The Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted began sending its students to the national competition team in 1987, when its two students won two bronze medals at that year’s IMO.
However, the Hanoi University of Natural Sciences and Hanoi University of Education remain the two biggest talent training centers of the country, from which many excellent students have emerged on the national and international scene, including Dam Thanh Son, Ngo Bao Chau and Dinh Tien Cuong.
Ngo Bao Chau is a Vietnamese Math Professor at the University of Chicago in the US, best known for proving the fundamental lemma for automorphic forms proposed by Robert Langlands and Diana Shelstad, for which he received the Fields Medal, the world’s most prestigious mathematics prize.
