This situation is alarming in many localities and recently, with nearly 50 competitions in 2023, the People's Committee of Vinh Phuc province had to issue a document requesting maximum reduction.
Continuous announcements about competitions on the website of Gia Thuong Primary School (Hanoi)
A HUGE COUNTLESS INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
Parents of Gia Thuong Primary School (Long Bien District, Hanoi) complained that there were too many competitions that the school and homeroom teachers informed parents about to register their children to participate in. According to Thanh Nien 's investigation, this school has a prominent section on the school's website homepage, continuously introducing and providing registration links for dozens of different competitions.
According to the introduction of Gia Thuong Primary School, in 2023, there were dozens of English competitions such as: the 2023 Winter International English Spelling Olympiad; the 2023 Teeneagle International English Olympiad; the TOEFL Challenge International English Competition; the 9th I'm Good at English; the KGL Global English Olympiad; the CEO International English Olympiad; the I'm Good at English (BME) competition; the Kangaroo International English Competition...
There are also many math and science competitions such as: Pangea World Math Olympiad; TIMO International Math Olympiad; HKIMO International Math Olympiad; Kangaroo IKSC International Science Competition; SEACSO Southeast Asian Computer Science Olympiad; HKISO International Science Olympiad; HKICO International Informatics Olympiad; Hanoi International Informatics Talent Competition; CSO International Science Olympiad; Big Bay Bei International Math Olympiad (BBB)... In addition, there are a series of art and sports competitions announced by this school, opening registration for students.
FEES FROM A FEW HUNDRED THOUSANDS TO A FEW TENS OF MILLIONS OF VND
Many competitions charge hundreds of thousands of dong right from the first round. For example, the Teeneagle International English Olympiad, the online round is 20 pounds/contestant (about 560,000 dong/contestant); the live round is expected to be about 1,200 - 1,400 pounds/contestant (about 34.68 - 40.46 million dong/contestant). The GRO 2023 Winter International Reading Olympiad, although advertised as aiming to "develop reading habits, improve knowledge...", has a competition fee of up to 500,000 dong/contestant. "The organizing committee encourages candidates to register according to their school," the announcement of this exam noted.
In the announcement of collective and individual achievements for the 2022-2023 school year, this school devoted an important section to honoring students' achievements in competitions and intellectual playgrounds, listing the number of medals that individuals and groups achieved as a form of encouragement for participation.
Reality shows that there is ambiguity about international exams. Many districts in Hanoi send students to international exams with medals to honor the achievements of the department and school, but the cost is paid by parents.
To attract students, many international competitions have the same trick: the first rounds are free and most students receive "congratulations" for "excellently" entering the next round. However, the further the round, the higher the fee, up to hundreds of thousands of VND, then millions of VND, then thousands of USD if students compete internationally.
Many parents have the mentality of letting their children compete for the sake of it. However, when their children win medals, they pay for their children to study and compete again. Thus, to get a medal, the amount of money they have to spend is not small; when their children win medals, they brag loudly on social networks even though they do not know the value of the medals at an international level. Many teachers are also "propagandists" for competitions, mobilizing students to participate in competitions, along with opening exam preparation classes, selling exam preparation materials...
The People's Committee of Vinh Phuc province issued a document agreeing with the proposal of the Department of Education and Training to minimize the number of competitions.
PROVINCIAL PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE DIRECTS TO MINIMIZE CUTTING
In Hanoi, in the 2016-2017 school year alone, at the department and ministry levels, there were 8 Olympic competitions for primary school students; 19 Olympic competitions for secondary and high school students, including 8 Olympic competitions on intelligence; 5 Olympic competitions on science and technology; 6 Olympic competitions on literature, sports, and fine arts. In math and English alone, there were dozens of competitions each for all levels.
This situation has caused the Ministry of Education and Training to issue a document requesting to rectify and reduce competitions, and at the same time remove the regulation of adding entrance points to students who win prizes in these competitions. However, with what is happening now, it seems that after a period of "temporary lull", competitions are flooding into schools again.
According to the latest statistics of the Department of Education and Training of Vinh Phuc, there will be 48 competitions for students taking place in 2023. Of these, there are 5 national competitions organized by the Ministry of Education and Training, 7 provincial competitions organized by the Department of Education and Training; the remaining 36 competitions are launched and deployed by ministries, departments, branches, organizations, and unions of the Central and local levels to Vinh Phuc's high school students, accounting for 75% of the total number of competitions organized. That is not to mention many online competitions for students to participate in voluntarily.
Faced with this situation, the Department of Education and Training had to submit to the People's Committee of Vinh Phuc province and the provincial leaders issued a document agreeing with the Department of Education and Training's proposal: "Minimize competitions so that students have time to play, participate in healthy entertainment and sports activities, reduce stress after school hours, increase communication and connection with friends and family, and reduce pressure in exams". "In addition to competitions according to the education program of the Ministry of Education and Training, the People's Council, and the Provincial People's Committee, the Provincial People's Committee requests departments, branches, organizations, unions, and People's Committees of districts and cities to review and minimize competitions for high school students in the province; only organize competitions in accordance with regulations", the document of the Vinh Phuc Provincial People's Committee stated.
Competitions compiled by the Department of Education and Training of Vinh Phuc
MISSING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT
Sharing with Thanh Nien , Associate Professor Chu Cam Tho, Head of the Department of Educational Evaluation Research (Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences), said that there are currently too many international competitions and talent competitions for all students to participate in, leading to 5th graders having participated in more than 10 competitions; or there are families spending thousands of USD to pay fees for their children to participate in competitions. According to Ms. Tho, spending too much time studying just to meet the exams and missing the opportunity to practice health and experience life is a pity for students in particular and the future of the country in general.
"We always remind that talented people do not reveal themselves just because of a competition, talent needs to be discovered and given the opportunity to practice for a long time. Scores are not a measure of learning, the learning process is what truly reflects the learner's character. Competitions should be a festival for students and educational institutions to exchange and learn from each other, thereby encouraging each other to develop. And therefore, we need to find ways to implement these things in educational practice, not for other benefits," said Ms. Tho.
What does the Ministry of Education and Training say?
At a recent meeting between Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son and teachers, many teachers expressed their concerns about the current situation where teachers and students are under pressure from too many competitions, many of which are formal, achievement-oriented, costly, and tiring for both teachers and students. Teachers asked the Minister to consider reducing unnecessary competitions so that teachers can focus more on teaching.
Responding to this content, Minister Nguyen Kim Son said that since 2017, the Ministry of Education and Training has issued a document regulating the list of competitions in schools. In addition, there are many competitions organized by ministries, branches, organizations, and localities; local leaders and school leaders need to make appropriate choices, avoiding organizing too many, overlapping, formalities, and affecting the main tasks of teachers and students. Regarding the list of competitions regulated by the Ministry in Official Dispatch No. 5814, whether or not to reduce them further, according to the Minister, "needs to be carefully considered". "To eliminate competitions, it is necessary to have a useful analysis or not. The trend is to streamline and reduce competitions if after analysis, it is found that they are really of little meaning and necessity," said Minister Nguyen Kim Son.
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