Overwhelmed with the digital library and fancy playground at Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted

Trường THPT chuyên Trần Đại Nghĩa - Ảnh 1. — A class of 10th grade IT students at Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted at the digital library - Photo: NHU HUNG

With an area of over 20,000 square meters, including a digital library of over 300 square meters, Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted plans to increase recess time to 30-60 minutes so that students can 'fully utilize' the school's facilities and equipment.

In May 2024, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee decided to split Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted into two schools. Of which, Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted is located in Thu Duc City, and the Secondary School - High School is located in District 1.

The reporter had a day eating and studying with students at this prestigious school.

Overwhelmed by digital library

At 7:30 a.m. on a day in mid-March 2025, we were present at Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted in An Khanh Ward, Thu Duc City. Mixed with parents taking their children to school by motorbike, a series of 16-seat and 24-seat vehicles lined up to "dump" students into the school.

Teacher Pham Thanh Yen, vice principal of Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted, said: "The school's students are spread across districts in the city, so we provide a shuttle service to meet the needs of parents."

At exactly 7:45, the bell rang to signal the start of class, and the students quickly entered their classrooms. In the spacious school yard, the cool breeze blew, and there were only two basketball classes with the physical education teacher.

The digital library at Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted is over 300 square ^meters wide with all kinds of modern machines that made us feel overwhelmed when we first entered. The digital library is divided into two areas: an indoor area with air conditioning for students who like comfort and an outdoor area designed like a garden cafe for students who love nature.

Choáng ngợp với thư viện số, sân chơi xịn sò ở Trường THPT chuyên Trần Đại Nghĩa - Ảnh 2. — Students of class 10CA1 take photos at the school library - Photo: PHUONG LAN

Not only a place to read books and study by yourself, the library has many different rooms to serve many activities. The largest room can organize teaching sessions according to the timetable, topics, and interdisciplinary lectures. The smaller room is a place for club and team activities. The room has a computer connected to the network to connect to online learning with universities and high schools abroad...

According to teacher Pham Thanh Yen, student Tran Dai Nghia used this connected classroom to study online some topics with the University of Sydney (Australia), Taipei Medical University (Taiwan)... in the 2024-2025 school year.

"In the past, this was the second campus of Tran Dai Nghia Specialized School. I was also a student of the school in middle school, and studied here in grades 6 and 7. At that time, the school was spacious and airy, but there was no air conditioning.

Now this is the main campus of the school, 100% of the classrooms have air conditioning. The sports area still has soccer, basketball, badminton fields, and now there is a pickleball court. Overall, I like it a lot more than before" - Viet Cuong, a 10th grade IT student, said.

Different Boarding Meals

Cận cảnh Trường THPT chuyên Trần Đại Nghĩa - Ảnh 3. — Lunch time - Photo: NHU HUNG

At 11 o’clock the bell rang, signaling the end of morning classes. The students rushed out, washed their hands, and went down to the dining room. Although the temperature was high at noon in March, the air in the dining room was pleasant and cool. At Tran Dai Nghia High School, the classrooms, dining room, and bedrooms were all equipped with air conditioning.

Instead of holding a tray and standing in line to get food like in many other schools, students here have their own fixed seats in the dining room. When entering the dining room, each student will sit in their correct seat (this seat remains the same from the beginning to the end of the school year). On the table there are already food trays including savory dishes, stir-fried dishes and desserts, students will open the lid of their trays and take rice and soup (in large bowls in the middle of the dining table) according to their needs.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre, Ms. To Thi Thanh Danh, a boarding manager at Tran Dai Nghia Specialized School, shared: "The boarding department will send the menu 2 weeks in advance for students to choose their favorite dishes. Each day there will be 2 dishes and students will choose 1 of the 2 according to their preferences.

In addition to the savory dishes, there are also vegetarian dishes and minced meat porridge. The students choose whichever dish they want, and the teachers will divide it into the correct tray every day. The soups, stir-fries, and desserts are the same.

According to Ms. Danh, the school arranges reasonable and scientific meal times to give students time to rest at noon. Students do not have to line up to get food because there are many students, which is very time-consuming.

Instead, the teachers divide the food into trays. When the students sit down at their desks, they can eat right away. After eating, they will have time to walk around and socialize with each other for about 10-15 minutes before going to their rooms to sleep.

However, not all students of Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted have to register for boarding meals. They can eat at the school canteen or bring their own meals.

The area for students to bring their own lunch is in the main hall of the school. That day, we saw many groups of students sitting in groups of three or five, eating and chatting happily in the hall.

Kim Thanh, a 10th grade math student, said: "The school prepares fans and tables and chairs for us. When we use them, we arrange them ourselves. After eating, we arrange the tables and chairs in the corner of the lobby to keep them tidy. We only use fans occasionally because this lobby is airy and cool."

In the 2023-2024 school year, Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted has 160 students winning prizes for excellent 12th grade students at the city level. Of which, 20 students won first prize, the rest won second and third prizes. In the 2024-2025 school year, 196 students won prizes, of which 24 students won first prize.

In the 2023-2024 school year, Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted has 21 students winning national excellent student awards. This number is 28 in the 2024-2025 school year.

(Source: Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City)

Approaching international education

The strategic goal of Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted from before the school was separated until now has not changed, which is to approach international education on the foundation of a public school.

Currently, the school's teaching staff is still stable, especially teachers of specialized subjects and teachers in charge of key lessons. In addition, the school still has the orientation to receive teachers with good professional capacity transferred from other high schools; receive excellent graduates from the pedagogical school according to the policy of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee.

Tran Dai Nghia School has an area of over ^20,000m2 with 45 classrooms, 40 functional rooms and a principal's office, meeting the boarding needs of 100% of students. We continue to maintain our strengths in training excellent students, enhancing soft skills training, and comprehensively developing students by innovating the school's organization methods...

In particular, we are calculating and coordinating so that next school year, students can study 20% of specialized subjects at universities and startup institutes. This not only takes advantage of the equipment support of the units but also thanks to the in-depth professional support of the teaching staff of universities and research institutes...

The school board also plans to increase the length of recess to 30-60 minutes, instead of 20 minutes as it is now. The goal is to increase the length of recess so that students can make full use of the school's facilities and equipment. Currently, the library is ideal, the playground is also complete, but with only 20 minutes, students cannot finish a soccer match or read a chapter of a book before class is over.

Mr. Pham Thanh Yen (Vice Principal of Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted)