Most of the advanced, internationally integrated schools (abbreviated as advanced schools) have been and are "hot" schools in Ho Chi Minh City.
STEM lesson of 6/4 grade students at Nguyen Van To Secondary School, District 10, Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: NHU HUNG
There are schools with no students, abandoned for many years, but when converting to an advanced school model, entrance exams must be organized.
Special school
Students of Tran Quoc Toan 1 Secondary School (Thu Duc City) practice Flashmob in the school yard - Photo: NHU HUNG
Looking at the spacious, modern scenery of Tran Quoc Toan 1 Secondary School (Thu Duc City), few people know that this school was abandoned for 4 years.
"In 2012, the school was completed but had no students so it was abandoned. In the 2016-2017 school year, I was assigned to write a project to implement an advanced school model. That year, I only expected to enroll two classes, but the reality exceeded expectations when we enrolled 10 classes" - Master Nguyen Thi Thu Hang, principal of Tran Quoc Toan 1 Secondary School, said.
From a newly established school with no reputation, as soon as it started operating, it charged tuition fees many times higher than normal public schools.
At that time, the tuition fee for middle school students at normal public schools in Ho Chi Minh City was 100,000 VND/month/student, but Tran Quoc Toan 1 Middle School charged 1.4 million VND/month/student. Yet, nearly 300 parents still submitted applications for their children to attend. Why was that?
Math lesson of 9/7 grade students, Tran Quoc Toan 1 Secondary School at the smart library - Photo: NHU HUNG
Ms. Hang explained: "In the integration period, parents are not only interested in academic issues, they pay special attention to equipping their children with soft skills. Therefore, in the first year of operation, the school invited experts to train teachers to implement modern and active teaching methods.
We incorporate STEM into the program, teach students how to do scientific research, enhance creative experiential activities, and practice life skills...
At the same time, the school works with partners to equip interactive boards and modern teaching equipment... for classes.
Art class of students at Tran Quoc Toan 1 Secondary School - Photo: NHU HUNG
Comprehensive education
The STEM class on the afternoon of October 23 in class 6/4 of Nguyen Van To Secondary School (District 10, Ho Chi Minh City) was more exciting than the extracurricular activity.
To program the robot to run along the prescribed track, students debated, practiced, and freely expressed their opinions, making the class more exciting than ever.
Thien Nhan - a student of class 6/4 - confided: "I and many of my classmates really like to learn STEM because it is interesting and exciting. Each class is a chance for us to conquer new requirements. I hope the school will increase STEM classes...".
Reading skills lesson for 6th grade students at Nguyen Van To Secondary School, District 10 - Photo: NHU HUNG
According to the board of directors of Nguyen Van To Secondary School, that afternoon, students in each class studied subjects according to the school's curriculum. For subjects such as international information technology, English with native teachers, guitar, organ, soccer, basketball, badminton, table tennis, reading skills... classes will study in the function room or on the field or in the multi-purpose gymnasium.
"100% of students study two sessions a day. The school schedules 40 periods a week for them. Of which, grades 6, 7, and 8 have 29 periods a week; grade 9 has 29.5 periods a week, which are subjects according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training. The remaining periods are subjects in the above school curriculum. In addition, there is an experiential learning program outside of school.
This year, 6th graders will experience riding a double-decker bus to visit the streets and historical sites of Ho Chi Minh City; 7th graders will study natural sciences at the Zoo; 8th graders will take a river bus to visit the Saigon River; 9th graders will visit the International University (Ho Chi Minh City National University) to serve career guidance.
"All school programs and experiential activities are funded from tuition fees" - a leader of Nguyen Van To Secondary School said.
Students of Nguyen Van To Secondary School during an elective physical education class - Photo: NHU HUNG
Mr. Le Minh - a parent with two children studying at Nguyen Van To Secondary School - commented: "My children are lucky to be able to study at this school. The school not only focuses on teaching but also takes care of boarding work.
My child always praises the delicious lunch, and he sleeps in a bunk bed in an air-conditioned bedroom. In addition, the school also organizes many activities to promote reading culture. In addition to the movement, the school has many good and dedicated teachers.
Therefore, every year, Nguyen Van To School students win high prizes in the excellent student competitions at all levels. They also achieve good results in the 10th grade entrance exam. This is the factor that makes me most satisfied, because I decided to let my child study in a public school when he enters high school."
66 advanced integrated schools
According to the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, the city currently has 66 kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools and high schools implementing the advanced school model.
Although starting from different points, after a few years of implementation, many schools have developed both in quality and quantity. Among them, some schools are considered "locomotives" in improving the quality of comprehensive education towards standardization, modernization, socialization and international integration.
In the preschool, primary and secondary schools, because many parents trust them, the pressure to enter is very high. For example, Tan Binh district has Dong Da Primary School; Go Vap district has Le Duc Tho Primary School; Tan Phu district has Tan Son Nhi Primary School; District 10 has Vo Truong Toan Primary School, Nguyen Van To Secondary School; District 6 has Vo Van Tan Primary School, Binh Tay Secondary School; Thu Duc City has Tran Quoc Toan 1 Secondary School, Binh Tho Secondary School, Hoa Lu Secondary School...
In the 2023 enrollment season, Thu Duc City has decided to allow Tran Quoc Toan 1 Secondary School to organize a survey to enroll 6th grade students.
Thus, from an abandoned school due to lack of students, after 7 years of implementing the advanced model, Tran Quoc Toan 1 Secondary School had to organize entrance exams. This is the second public secondary school in Ho Chi Minh City to organize entrance exams due to input pressure, after Tran Dai Nghia Specialized High School.
By the 2024 admission season, many more secondary schools in Ho Chi Minh City will have to conduct surveys to recruit 6th graders. In addition, other secondary schools do not conduct surveys but also set many criteria for recruitment because the "demand" is much greater than the "supply".
Students of Tran Quoc Toan 1 Secondary School (Thu Duc City) in music class - Photo: NHU HUNG
A lesson in the smart library
Entering the smart library of Tran Quoc Toan 1 Secondary School on the afternoon of October 25, the writer happened to attend a math class of 9/7 students. The students sat in groups at round tables, with laptops in front of each student.
On the podium, teacher Phan Thi Thanh Binh wears a microphone and uses an interactive board to teach.
At the beginning of the lesson, Ms. Binh tested the old lesson with the game Quizizz, and the students quickly used their computers to do it. In the new lesson, the images of the lesson appeared on the interactive board screen on the podium and also appeared on the computer screen in front of the students.
Students do not have to worry about sitting too far away or not seeing clearly. When the teacher asks students to look at the screen to find the relative position of two circles or access the QR code to complete the worksheet, students do it right on the computer and the teacher knows the results of the students' work on the server...
Parent's Choice
The current public secondary school tuition fee in Ho Chi Minh City is 60,000 VND/month/student. However, I accept to pay 1.725 million VND/month for my child to study at Tran Quoc Toan 1 Secondary School.
I see that the school has modern facilities and amenities that are not inferior to international schools. Each class has only 35 students. My child is taught many gifted subjects to develop himself such as presentation and debate skills, modern dance, painting, and information technology according to international standards...
Before registering my child for the entrance exam to grade 6 at Tran Quoc Toan 1 Secondary School, I did some research and learned that the quality of teaching at the school was very good. Every year, the school has students who win high prizes in the city-level excellent student competition.
The number of 9th grade students taking the 10th grade entrance exam also achieved very high scores. Most of them passed the entrance exam to the top high schools in the city. I decided to let my child take the entrance exam to Tran Quoc Toan 1 Secondary School because compared to non-public schools, the tuition fee is very cheap, and compared to the quality of education, it is even cheaper.
Ms. Nguyen Kim Ngan (parent of Tran Quoc Toan 1 Secondary School, Thu Duc City)
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/truong-tien-tien-hoi-nhap-co-gi-ky-2-giai-ma-suc-hut-truong-tien-tien-20241105083635308.htm
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