Ho Chi Minh City: How do the two Tran Dai Nghia schools operate?

Học sinh Trường THPT chuyên Trần Đại Nghĩa trong một hoạt động ở trường - Ảnh: Nhà trường cung cấp — Students of Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted in an activity at school - Photo: Provided by the school

The project to separate Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted by the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City proposes the following enrollment targets for the 2024-2025 school year for the two new schools: Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted (headquartered at Lot P2 of the 38.4-hectare resettlement area, An Khanh Ward, Thu Duc City, hereinafter referred to as the school in Thu Duc City) enrolls students for specialized classes in math, literature, physics, chemistry, biology, and information technology, each class has 35 students, and the English specialized class recruits 4 classes: 140 students.

Tran Dai Nghia Secondary and High School (headquartered at 53 Nguyen Du, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, hereinafter referred to as the school in District 1) enrolls 350 grade 6 students and 450 grade 10 students.

If this proposal is approved by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the enrollment target for grade 6 this year will be much less than last year (last year the target was 535 grade 6 students).

Specialized classes are still held in District 1.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre, Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu (Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City) said: "In the 2023-2024 school year, Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted has a training scale of 106 classes with 3,540 students. Of which, there are 62 junior high school classes with 2,177 students; 44 high school classes. High school includes 27 specialized classes with 796 students, 9 non-specialized classes with 311 students, 8 integrated classes with 256 students.

The Department proposed a transitional period when separating Tran Dai Nghia Specialized School. In the first two years, 11th and 12th graders (including non-specialized classes) of the school will still study and live at the District 1 campus even though their staff belongs to the school in Thu Duc City. That is, the old classes will study in District 1 until they graduate to ensure stability and not affect the psychology of parents and students."

As for students in grades 7, 8, and 9, the school separation project proposes to transfer these students to the school in District 1 for management. However, some parents believe that this will cause disadvantages for students, especially those who wish to apply for scholarships to study abroad after finishing middle school.

"In grade 6, our children took the exam and passed the entrance exam to grade 6 at Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted. Although the secondary school does not offer specialized training, being a student of a specialized school is an advantage when they apply for scholarships to study abroad. Now that the schools have been separated, our children have become students of Tran Dai Nghia Secondary and High School, which means there is no longer a specialized school," said a parent.

Regarding the above issue, Mr. Hieu affirmed: "The Department will accept parents' opinions and is considering the best solution on the basis of ensuring students' rights."

Regarding the staff, at first, teachers from Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted will teach at both new schools according to the coordination and agreement of the principals of the two schools.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu (Director of Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City)

Determine the operating model

According to Mr. Hieu, the school in Thu Duc City will operate under the regulations of specialized schools. The school will continue to enroll high school students from the age of 15, with intelligence, good results in training and studying at the secondary school level and have the ability to study at specialized schools.

The school in District 1 enrolls students from junior high school to high school who are healthy, have good morals, and have average or above average academic performance. The school will operate according to the model of a high-quality school - international integration (not an advanced, international integration school that many high schools in Ho Chi Minh City are implementing).

In particular, grade 6 admission will be conducted through a test given by the department, grade 10 admission will be conducted during the city-wide grade 10 admission.

The HCM City Department of Education and Training said one of the criteria for separating Tran Dai Nghia School is not to increase the number of people receiving salaries from the state budget. In terms of finance, it is necessary to ensure that the current level of financial autonomy is not reduced. However, both schools need to take advantage of existing facilities while simultaneously building and adding equipment to increase the scale of operations according to the determined model.

According to the assessment of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, the two new schools are both capable of organizing boarding schools, meaning that students can study and live all day at school. Of which, the school in Thu Duc City has a total land area of 22,219.4m2; 30 classrooms, a gym, mini soccer field, basketball, badminton, aerobics room, sports field...

The school in District 1 has an area of 12,381.1m2; 80 classrooms, the school campus has shady trees, flower gardens, ornamental plants, playgrounds... Both facilities have enough functional rooms such as libraries, physics and chemistry laboratories, technology laboratories, computer rooms, foreign language classrooms; multi-purpose gymnasiums and ancillary areas for offices.

The school in District 1 has an advanced and smart library with full equipment and a computer system connected to the Internet to meet the research, teaching and learning needs of teachers and students.

From the provisions of the Education Law

Assessing the social impact after the separation of Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City said: The school in Thu Duc City will still maintain its attraction in recruiting students for specialized classes at the high school level; helping to promote the school's strengths in nurturing excellent students and comprehensive education. Specialized students still have the conditions to participate in the selection process, apply for scholarships, participate in international academic exchanges...

Schools in District 1 continue to implement the junior high and high school programs as well as the high-quality school model - international integration (ie educating students in a direction approaching regional and international educational levels) to meet the needs and aspirations of students and parents.

The above school separation plan will not cause major changes in the arrangement, organization, structure, personnel, organization and implementation of educational programs. At the same time, the school in District 1 will continue to exploit its strengths in training secondary school students.

It is known that the school separation comes from the provisions of the Education Law and specialized school regulations regarding not allowing non-specialized classes to exist in specialized schools.

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