VietNamNet Bridge – Why do Hanoian parents all want to send their children to the Giang Vo Experimental School instead of other state owned schools in Hanoi? The answer lies in the “education technology” that the school is following.

Hanoian parents jostled to buy application forms

The news that hundreds of Hanoians jostled in front of the Giang Vo Experimental School to buy application forms for studying at the school has become a hot topic on education forums. The happening was explained by the word “education technology.”

Modern parents, who see a lot of advantages in the education systems followed by developed countries, now do not want their children to follow the traditional education, which is believed to have many problems. Meanwhile, they believe that the Giang Vo Experimental School can bring a thing they want: the modern education method, called “teaching technology.”

“Cong nghe giao duc” (Education technology) is the word used by Professor Ho Ngoc Dai, who is considered the father of the technology.

The education technology, as explained by the Professor, can be described in a few brief words with a formula A→a, in which “A” is the achievements of the modern civilization, such as science, art, lifestyle, while "a" is children's personality. The key of the technology is turning “A” into “a.”

With the technology, children, right since the first grade, can learn to have both practical knowledge (they can read and write in the mother tongue), and the analysis capacity. This is clearly quite different from the traditional education method, under which children simply copy the grown-ups. Especially, children can begin their social lives right from the first grade.

When the new education technology was introduced by Dai 35 years ago, the theory stirred up the public, because it came contrary to all the viewpoints about the education system.

A lot of principles put forward by Professor Dai at that time surprised many people. He said the students, not teachers, should be put in the center of the lessons; “learning” should mean “playing”, not a process of struggling to stuff students’ heads with knowledge. Dai also suggested the new principle of learning with no exams and no marks.

Since Dai’s theory raised controversy, he was then only allowed to develop the theory in a trial basis. This was the reason why the Giang Vo Experimental School was set up 35 years ago.

After many years, Vietnamese parents have recognized a lot of advantages of the new education technology. Hoang Huong, a journalist, said her eldest son has been very happy with his lessons at the school, and now she wants to send the second child to the school as well.

However, while parents get interested in the new teaching method, the Ministry of Education and Training still hesitates to apply the method in a large scale. This explains why the education technology remains “experimental” over the last 35 years.

Professor Van Nhu Cuong, Headmaster of Luong The Vinh High School, a well-known Vietnamese educator, also said he cannot understand why the advanced model has not been applied in a large scale. If the technology is applied in large scale in Vietnam, parents would not have to spend sleepless nights to buy application forms for their children any more.

Answering the question, former Deputy President Nguyen Thi Binh, who was also Minister of Education, said that the Ministry of Education and Training still cannot conduct scientific research works to find out the advantages and disadvantages of the education technology. Therefore, the application of the model in a large scale should not be carried out until scientific proofs about the advantages can be found.

Source: VTC