With the dream of bringing STEAM to 1 million students and eventually all Vietnamese students, Tran To Uyen (born in 1997, co-founder and national director of STEAM for Vietnam) and her colleagues hope that young Vietnamese people, regardless of their starting point, will be given educational opportunities to reach further and be more successful.
World-class STEAM education, completely free
+ Can you share the motivation that led you to found "STEAM for Vietnam" and why you chose STEAM as the core educational platform for Vietnamese students?
10 years ago, I was fortunate to have access to a very new form of STEM education when I was a student at Tran Dai Nghia High School. Instead of just learning theory in class, I had the opportunity to practice research in the lab of Ho Chi Minh City University of Education - a rare experience for high school students at that time. Those days completely changed my life: From representing Vietnam to participating in the International Science Competition, being admitted directly to university, receiving a full scholarship in the US, to the opportunity to work at leading companies in the world. I deeply understand that education has the power to change a person's destiny. From my own experience, I always hope that every young Vietnamese person, regardless of their starting point, is given the opportunity to get an education to go further and be more successful.
Tran To Uyen, co-founder and country director of STEAM for Vietnam
In 2020, when Mr. Tran Viet Hung (Founder & CEO) shared with me his vision of STEAM for Vietnam, I realized that this was the opportunity to make that dream come true. Together with my co-founders, including Ms. Nguyen Phuong Thuy (Co-founder), Ms. Tran Phuong Thao (COO & Co-founder) and other founding members, I started building STEAM for Vietnam from scratch. Our story began with a simple but meaningful mission: to bring world-class STEAM education, completely free of charge, to millions of Vietnamese children, regardless of family circumstances or geographical location. With the support of hundreds of volunteers around the world, from 13 different time zones, we together create inspiring and valuable learning programs for the young generation of Vietnam.
+ Since founding STEAM for Vietnam 4 years ago, what difficulties and challenges have you and your colleagues experienced in the journey of building and developing the project?
Although we started with big dreams, the journey of STEAM for Vietnam started from very humble beginnings. We started the project from zero: no staff, no finance and no one knew the name STEAM for Vietnam. But what we had was a clear vision and a united team, always believing in the power of education to change the future.
I still remember vividly the year 2020, when the STEAM for Vietnam engineering team - who are working at leading technology corporations in Silicon Valley - worked tirelessly for a week, working day and night to build the LiveApp platform and the Learning Management System. On the day the system was completed, everyone was tired but very proud. The first lesson, the system operated smoothly for more than 5,000 students participating at the same time, became a memorable milestone. It was not only a technical success but also a testament to the persistent efforts and dedication of the STEAM for Vietnam team.
But the journey does not stop there. How to maintain the quality of education and expand the scale is a difficult problem that we always struggle with. From a few thousand initial students, by 2024, STEAM for Vietnam has trained more than 80,000 students and 10,000 teachers nationwide. This development requires us to constantly innovate and improve, from program content to operation methods.
Realizing that the wave of Generative AI is changing the way the world works, especially in education, we decided to invest all our resources into the "Train the Trainers 2024: AI Summer Camp" program - the world's first nationwide AI training program for teachers. More than 8,500 teachers across 63 provinces/cities have signed up, proving that our efforts are making a real difference.
Illustration
STEAM for Vietnam, a US non-profit organization founded by global Vietnamese experts, is gradually realizing its mission of bringing international quality STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education to Vietnamese students.
"AI is the lever for us to achieve our goals"
+ With the dream of bringing STEAM to 1 million students and eventually all Vietnamese students, can you share some specific strategies that STEAM for Vietnam will implement to achieve this goal?
With the dream of bringing STEAM to 1 million students and further to all students in Vietnam, we have outlined specific and sustainable strategies to gradually realize this goal. This is not only the journey of STEAM for Vietnam, but also the common journey of the whole community, where each individual and each teacher plays an important role.
Investing in Teachers - Scaling the Impact: Teachers are the key to bringing STEAM closer to students. We will deploy a program to train 1.6 million teachers in Generative AI, starting in the 2025-2026 school year. Each teacher will not only teach one class but also inspire and educate dozens, even hundreds of students. This is the most effective way to scale and create a big impact.
Integrating AI into Robotics - Unlimited Learning: The Robotics program with integrated AI uses many different types of robot components and a simulation platform, so that students can learn even without robots. The training program will be accompanied by a national Robotics competition with many different types of robots, creating an equal playing field for all students.
Students enjoy robotics workshop
Innovation in Computer Science - Looking to the Future: Introducing a new Computer Science curriculum focusing on Computational Thinking and AI for young people who are passionate about programming and want to become future technology engineers
Connecting Vietnamese talents globally and expanding our network of partners: We do not stop at training individuals, but also aim to connect and build a community of Vietnamese talents around the world. Through activities such as "bus tour" around Europe and STEAMESE Global, STEAM for Vietnam hopes to create a space for young Vietnamese people to exchange, learn, and develop together. This will be a place to connect Vietnamese talents, turn connections into collective strength, and bring the Vietnamese community further on the international stage.
We are building STEAMHub - an open knowledge ecosystem that provides free learning materials and support tools so that every student and teacher, no matter where they are, can access the most advanced knowledge. This will be an important bridge to help bring high-quality STEAM education to all regions, eliminating barriers of distance and economic conditions.
AI is the lever that helps us achieve this great goal. From supporting teachers, personalizing lectures to optimizing the learning process, AI helps scale while maintaining quality. We believe that, with the consensus of teachers, students and the community, STEAM for Vietnam will not only achieve the goal of 1 million students but also help the young generation of Vietnam confidently reach out, leaving a strong mark on the global talent map.
+ Thank you!
Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/uoc-mo-dua-steam-den-voi-1-trieu-hoc-sinh-viet-nam-202501211448314.htm
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