Pupils attend ASMO competition at Nguyen Tri Phuong Secondary School

The ASMO is for 1st to 11th-grade pupils. It is estimated that thousands of pupils had joined in the competition but the parents are complaining about the organisation. The pupils have to pay VND300,000 (USD12.80) for the subject they want to take part in. The fees are reduced to VND500,000 for two subjects and VND600,000 for three subjects.

The competition took place on the morning of May 26, however, many people were unable to find their children's names on the participant list on May 25. Many parents took their children to the Archimedes Academy only to be told that due to the high number of participants, the organisers had opened another exam location at Nguyen Tri Phuong Secondary School.

"It's lucky that Sunday didn't have congestion or else I would have to take my child home. We went around the city to attend the competition," a parent said. "But when we arrived, the seats were all filled. My child was directed to another room and when the exam started, he was brought to another room. He started the exam later than others."

Many parents decided to drop the afternoon exams afterwards.

The organisers have released an apology to the parents and pupils on May 26. According to the letter, due to the short organising period, they had only planned to receive 1,000 pupils in Hanoi and stopped receiving new participants since May 23. However up to 3,000 pupils registered to the competition.

"We knew there would be problems but we still decided to open another exam location at Nguyen Tri Phuong Secondary School for those who didn't have names on the registration list via the official portal," the organisers wrote.

The Vietnam ASMO competition was held by the Vietnam Physical Society and the Research Institute of Creative Education and the University of Economics. The competition aims to encourage pupils to embrace science and maths from an early age, and improve the relationships between Asian countries.

Outstanding pupils at Vietnam ASMO will continue to attend the international ASMO held in China this November. Dtinews