VietNamNet Bridge - Saudi Arabia is using Vietnamese specialists to prepare its students for international math competitions. 

 

Le Anh Vinh (first right) in Saudi Arabia

The first Vietnamese mathematician invited was Dr. Le AnhVinh, the youngest associate professor in Vietnam.

Vinh graduated from a university in Australia, obtaining a doctorate from Harvard University in the US. He has travelled widely in Europe, and has been to four continents.

Vinh returned to Vietnam to work as a lecturer at Hanoi National University.

He was assigned to be the trainer preparing the Vietnamese team for the International Math Olympiads in 2011-2014. 

As the deputy head of the Vietnamese delegation at the competition, he helped Vietnam regain its position as one of the top 10 competitors after many years of relegation.

In February 2014, Saudi Arabian officials arrived in Vietnam and met Dr. Vinh in Hanoi. 

They asked for Vinh’s help to train the Saudi Arabian math competition team.

“I led them (the officials) to visit classes at the high school for the gifted majoring in natural sciences belonging to Hanoi National University. They had a strong impression about the Vietnamese model of school for the gifted,” Vinh said.

“The officials asked us to help train the Saudi Arabian competition team and prepare the team for math competitions,” he said.

Vinh creates training plans, curricula and materials, and trains students and chooses members for the competition team.

After advance working visits to Saudi Arabia, Vinh invited other Vietnamese specialists to team up with him to undertake the task of training Saudi Arabian students.

Do Duc Thai, Le Ba Khanh Trinh, Nguyen Duy Thai Son, Tran Nam Dung, Vu TheKhoi and other big names were invited to become trainers of the Saudi Arabian competition team.

The Saudi Arabian government, convinced by the impressive achievements of the Vietnamese mathematicians, put high hopes on the specialists.

When asked about the working schedule, Vinh said he had received about 500 emails and calls from Saudi Arabia over the last year.

“The calls usually come at 3-4 am and last nearly one hour. And I have been flying to Saudi Arabia so frequently that I just need to take two more flights to obtain the Platinum Card of Qatar Airways,” he said.

Saudi Arabian students trained by Vietnamese have attended four international competitions, including the math Olympiad for students in the Gulf, European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad, Asia Pacific Mathematics Olympiad and the Balkans Mathematical Olympiad. Compared to previous years, they have won more top prizes.

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