Hanoi's students

In the 2017-2018 academic year, Hanoi ran a pilot training program at Chu Van An High School and Sai Dong Primary School under which students can receive Vietnamese and British diplomas (A-level certificate). 

After the program begins at the Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted and seven secondary schools in 2018-2019, the students attending the programs will study five subjects in English, including math, physics, chemistry, economics and academic English. 

According to Le Mai Anh, headmaster of Chu Van An High School, 47 out of 49 students attending the pilot program in 2017-2018 won the ‘excellent student’ title, though the number of students who got As for the Cambridge tests was modest.

Anh said the facilities do not meet the requirements of the program, which requires practice as well as study. There is only one internationally standard physics practice room at the school, while the practice room for chemistry is still on paper. 

“Forty percent of marks on the tests are given to practice questions. If lacking internationally standard facilities, teachers and students will find it difficult to overcome the next steps set by Cambridge,” Anh said.

The other problem lies in the quality of the teaching staff. The school did not have enough teachers for the A-level program in the last academic year. Most of the teachers worked under part-time labor contracts. 

As the school plans to have two more classes following the double-qualification program in 2018-2019, it will have to increase the teaching staff by twofold and find good tutors.

Parents lack information

The training program turns out to be inaccessible to many parents and students because of the lack of information.

Minh Hang, a parent in Ba Dinh district, complained that she spent many days to search for information about the program, the training method, and teaching staff, but what she found was unsatisfactory.

“Actually, I was very hesitant to enroll my son in the program because there was little information,” Hang said. 

“The information was an important factor for me to decide whether to let my son to follow the program,” she explained.

“I have no information about teaching staff. As far as I know, Vietnam still lacks qualified teachers who can give science lessons in English. Besides, I am also afraid the curriculum is too heavy, which could be a burden on my son,” she said.

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