What does the school say about the national science and technology first prize project accused of being similar to foreign products?

Nguyen Sieu High School (Hung Yen) - Photo: NGUYEN BAO

The science and technology project Smart waste classification system integrating artificial intelligence and sound sensors, by a group of two students from Nguyen Sieu High School (Hung Yen), has just won first prize in the 2025 National Science and Technology Competition.

However, after the competition, some people said that this project was "too similar" to a product that was published by a foreign expert, Samuel Alexander, on the Hackaday.io community.

Students and instructors are on leave.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre Online on March 25, Mr. Le Thanh Tuan - principal of Nguyen Sieu High School - said he was very surprised when on the afternoon of March 24 he received information reflecting that the project of a student in the school who had just won first prize in the national science and technology competition was accused of being similar to a foreign product.

"Yesterday I encouraged the students through their families, because there is not much time left until the final exam," said Mr. Tuan.

He said that on the afternoon of March 24, he had consulted with the school board about this incident. Later that afternoon, he discussed with the teacher who was guiding the group of two students to carry out the project.

"The instructor affirmed that she was very confident about the product. After that, the school also asked for the opinion of superiors about the developments on social networks," said Mr. Tuan.

The project that just won first prize in the National Science and Technology Competition was accused of 'plagiarism' - Points in the poster of the group of students about the project Smart waste sorting system integrating artificial intelligence and sound sensors are said to be similar to the photos of Samuel Alexander (right) - Photo: NGOC THANH

According to Mr. Tuan, when talking with the instructor, the teacher said that "students can refer to it, but there are no specific conditions to learn the details", because the health of the two students is not good at the moment.

On March 25, both students and instructors requested leave from school/teaching due to poor health. It is currently unknown when they will return to school.

Mr. Tuan said the specific truth of the incident will have to wait for the authorities and the organizing committee to consider. "The instructor is ready to report the incident when his health is stable, the school will report to superiors if requested," he said.

In order not to affect students' psychology, Mr. Tuan said the school will discuss through the homeroom teacher and the student's family.

"The Department directs the review of the project implementation process"

According to Mr. Tuan, the school has not yet received any response from the competition organizers to the school.

"When the school asked for the opinion of the Department of Education and Training, the department directed the school, teachers, and students to review the implementation process. When teachers and students' health is stable, it can be implemented," said Mr. Tuan.

Mr. Tuan added that to ensure scientific integrity, the school always reminds students and teachers to avoid copyright infringement. For other professional activities, the school also develops plans and regulations for implementation.

According to him, at the school level, regulations are sometimes limited, only stopping at a certain level. Schools also have difficulty in having enough tools to check the integrity of the project.

"The current plan is to instruct instructors that if their health is stable, they will write a report and send it to the school. Then, if the organizers request it, the school will provide it," said Mr. Tuan.

Ms. Huu Thi Hai - Vice Principal of the school - said that when there are conflicting opinions, whether right or wrong, consulted or not, it has created negative public opinion. Ms. Hai hopes that the matter will be resolved soon so that students and teachers can study stably.

According to Ms. Hai, when implementing the project at the school level, the students in the group presented the idea to the teachers in the professional group from the idea of ​​seeing the difficulty of sorting garbage around the classroom and school. Implementing the project with the hope that the product will be used in small areas such as families and schools.

According to Mr. Tuan, the students at the school are from rural areas, but in recent years the school has invested a lot in students' scientific research.

Specifically, every year the school organizes STEM Festival and school-level science and technology competition. At the same time, it has won many prizes in the annual science and technology idea competition organized by Hung Yen province. With the science and technology competition chaired by the Department of Education and Training, the school usually has 2 or more products participating in the competition each year.

“In recent years, the school has participated in the national science and technology competition twice, in which in 2019 the school's students won fourth prize; this year the school's students won first prize,” said Mr. Tuan.

The regulations of the science and technology research competition require no cheating.

According to Article 4 of Circular 06/2024 promulgating the regulations for the national science and technology research competition for middle and high school students, the Ministry of Education and Training stipulates: "Ensure honesty in scientific research; no cheating, illegal copying, forgery; no use or presentation of other people's research content and results as one's own research results".

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/truong-noi-gi-ve-du-an-giai-nhat-khoa-hoc-ky-thuat-quoc-gia-bi-to-giong-san-pham-nuoc-ngoai-20250325174205104.htm