VietNamNet Bridge – Many Vietnamese children who show outstanding abilities at a very young age later can fall behind if they do not learn in schools suited to their capabilities.

Nguyen Tuan Kiet, a child prodigy

For example, the extraordinary memory of Pham Tuan Minh, born in 2008, in Tu Son District of Bac Ninh Province, allows him to convert solar days, months, years into lunar days, months, years just after one second of calculation. At the age of two, Minh could remember all the national flags of all the countries in the world and could name the countries. He also can remember hundreds of mobile phone numbers of other people.

While Minh’s friends of the same age were not even familiar with letters, Minh began doing math operations designed for first graders.

Nguyen Phuc Giac Hai, deputy head of the Institute for Human Abilities Research and Application, called Minh the “boy with a computing brain”, one in a million.

In another case, the locals in Cua Lo Town of Nghe An province know Nguyen Tuan Kiet, a boy who became famous in 2011 at the age of thre. Kiet could read and count numbers, remember all the letters of the alphabet and relatives’ telephone numbers.

No one taught Kiet these things. In the first grade, Kiet surprised his teachers and friends with his special abilities. Phung Thi Thu, one of his teachers, said she never met such a clever boy with such good thinking ability.

Pham Thi Ha, a university lecturer, the mother of Pham Tuan Minh, said she is worried about the child.

“A lot of child prodigies suffer from autism due to the lack of a proper education. Having a clever child sometimes brings worries,” Ha said, adding that she always has to think about what she needs to do to provide a “launching pad” for Minh to develop his talents.

Newton, an international school in Hanoi, has promised to grant a full scholarship to Minh to allow him to study at the school. However, Ha decided to send Minh to a primary school in Bac Ninh Province.

“I have been advised to send Minh to a school in Hanoi where he can have a good environment to develop his talent. However, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak with our current financial capability,” Ha said.

Kiet’s father also said he wishes Kiet could go to a school for the gifted, such as the Dang Thai Mai School in Vinh City, where he believes Kiet would have better learning conditions. However, as the family lives far from the city and Kiet is still young, the wish cannot be fulfilled.

NLD