On February 18, the Ministry of Education and Training continued to provide more information on the management of extra teaching and learning and some general education contents at the Central press conference. Here, the Ministry continued to emphasize one of the 5 viewpoints and principles for building Circular 29: "Extra teaching and learning must be consistent with the 2018 General Education Program. In which, students are encouraged to be proactive, creative, and have self-study habits; teachers play the role of organizers, inspectors, and guides".
How are students studying on their own?
On the sidelines of the Exam Season Consulting program recently organized by Thanh Nien Newspaper in Dong Nai and Binh Duong, we quickly interviewed some 12th grade students. Very few students said that they "100% self-studied" to review for the high school graduation exam for university admission.
12th grade students asked many questions about studying, career orientation... to experts in the 2025 Exam Season Consulting program in Binh Duong last weekend.
PHOTO: DAO NGOC THACH
Pham Tuan Anh (class 12C1, Tran Van On High School, Binh Duong) aims to study business administration at Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, so he studies math, physics, and English. "I study more to feel more confident when taking the exam. From this week, my school will no longer teach in the afternoon, so I will study at home during that time. I think that if I study by myself, I will be able to pass the university entrance exam, but it will be difficult to get into top schools," the male student said.
Le Hoang Tuyet Nhung (Tran Van On High School, Binh Duong) is taking extra math, literature, and English to apply for the D01 combination to study English at the Aviation Academy. In addition, Nhung also studies geography to confidently take the high school graduation exam. Nhung shared: "12th grade students face a lot of pressure, from studying to choosing a school, worrying about their future career while everything is constantly changing and fluctuating."
Quynh Phuong (a 12th grade student in Thuan An City, Binh Duong) only attends extra math classes, and self-study literature, history, and geography to apply for the C00 combination to the tourism major at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Ho Chi Minh City National University). "In addition to self-studying and practicing questions, I study from historical films on the internet. This week, my school also does not teach in the afternoon due to the application of Circular 29, so students have to self-study more, while I don't know what the exam questions will be like according to the 2018 General Education Program, which makes me worried," Phuong shared.
Meanwhile, Tran Ha Nam (class 12C05, Le Hong Phong High School, Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai) mainly chooses self-study. Nam participates in some online classes of famous teachers, joins the self-study community with excellent students everywhere. "Self-studying online helps me rewind the parts I don't understand, learn from many good teachers. When encountering difficult problems, I think of solutions myself, improving my problem-solving ability. However, the downside is that if I don't focus on the internet environment, it's easy to get distracted," Nam said. This male student hopes to major in mechanical engineering at the University of Technology (Ho Chi Minh City National University), and also has experience referring to tips on doing exercises and solving math problems from friends on TikTok. "However, this can only be done when you thoroughly grasp the core of the problem to determine whether the knowledge shared from the internet is right or wrong," Nam added.
Self-study is clearly effective if done correctly. So what is the advice from those who have gone before?
Students in the self-study area of Ho Chi Minh City University of Education
SELF-STUDY IS NOT SITTING DOING ESSAYS PASSIVELY, READING BOOKS
Orphaned since birth, Le Hoang Phong (currently Academic Director of YOUREORG Education and Training Organization) did not have the opportunity to study extra, had no one to tutor him after school, but he still achieved many successes. For example, he was selected from more than 9,000 candidates to become one of four Vietnamese scholars to participate in the British Council's Future Leaders Connect program in 2021, and was also a scholar of the YSEALI Professional Fellowship program sponsored by the US Department of State in 2022. He does not deny the value of extra study, but affirms that if you have good self-study skills, anyone can go far. "The ultimate goal of studying is not to find a way to study more but to study better. And to study better, the core is not whether or not you study extra but the ability to self-study - a quality that determines anyone's success," he said.
"Self-study is not simply reading books or doing homework passively. It is the ability to ask questions, think critically, seek information and practice personal discipline," Mr. Phong emphasized. He gave an example of when he was a high school student, when there were no teachers or extra classes to support him, he sought knowledge through the library, online documents and learned from the people around him. He took advantage of every opportunity to learn through real-life experiences, from the smallest jobs to community programs.
"If we only depend on tutoring, we may be limited by teachers, programs and study time. But if we have the ability to self-study, we will turn the whole world into a classroom. I believe that modern education needs to shift its focus from imparting knowledge to fostering self-study ability, because only when students can self-study, can they truly take control of their future," Mr. Phong shared.
"The results will be sweet"
Master Vinh San, Director of Communications of DOL English system, recounted his observations - a lucky person who has set foot on all 5 continents and seen the diversity of cultural, entertainment and educational factors of developed and developing countries and territories. According to him, a common point in many developed countries is that the people have a very good ability to self-study.
"In 2005, I received a full scholarship from the British Council to study at Salford University (UK). In the first week, I felt like I was being cheated because the teachers gave very little lectures, mainly asking students to read first and then asking questions to discuss back and forth. At that time in Vietnam, schools were places where students mainly listened and took notes," he said. Later, he himself was very grateful for the course because it gave him the opportunity to try to find the answer himself first, while the teachers only helped to expand and deepen the problem. This helped him become the only press delegate from Vietnam to be sponsored to attend the prestigious HLF computer science conference in Germany 7 times.
"When we are encouraged to learn on our own, although it is more difficult than being fed all the information from the beginning, the results will be very sweet, because anything that requires us to struggle and search through sources to understand will also mean we will remember it for a long time and very deeply. And when we have to work on our own in the sea of knowledge regularly, learners will also have much better critical thinking skills. Many surveys have shown that critical thinking is the most important skill in the era of the strong rise of artificial intelligence (AI), "said Vinh San. (to be continued)
The most important skill
Mr. Vinh San also recalled the sharing of Professor Klaus Schwab, Chairman and Founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF), at the exchange with students in Ho Chi Minh City in October 2024. Professor Klaus Schwab emphasized that we are in a world of rapid change and one of the most important skills that young people need to develop to "survive" is self-study and lifelong learning. This is much easier for Gen Z than previous generations due to the development of technology, the internet, many good and even free courses will appear with just one click.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/siet-day-them-hoc-them-co-hoi-thuc-day-tinh-than-tu-hoc-185250219190930571.htm
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