"Breakthrough" from education

(Baonghean) - After its separation, Nghia Dan district was considered a "disadvantaged" area in all aspects. In this challenging situation, education was identified as a "breakthrough" area. With efforts to overcome difficulties and strive for progress, Nghia Dan's education system has now made significant strides in teaching and learning, building schools that meet national standards...

Improving the quality of cutting-edge technology

Phu Tho Junior High School was formed by merging Nghia Phu Junior High School and Nghia Tho Junior High School, located in a remote area of ​​the former Nghia Dan district. The school's educational support for students is limited, and its quality of education is among the lowest in the district. In the 2012-2013 school year, the school's entrance quality for 10th grade ranked 15th out of 17 junior high schools. Mr. Ngo Van Hoat, Principal of Phu Tho Junior High School, stated: "The quality of teaching and learning at the school would not have improved without the working session between the Standing Committee of the Nghia Dan District Party Committee and local leaders and the three schools in the area." Taking responsibility before the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee, the school focused on solutions to improve educational quality, such as innovating teaching methods; classifying students according to their abilities, increasing tutoring for weak students, and nurturing gifted students. Changes in ranking and competition methods have led to the school's ranking rising to 6th out of 17 schools in the district in the 2013-2014 school year; its top-performing students ranked 8th, and its general education ranked 7th. According to Mr. Ngo Van Hoat, the important thing is that through improved teaching quality and learning conditions for students, the school has gradually affirmed its brand. As a result, for the past two years, no students from the commune have gone to the town to study.

A lesson using the VNEN technology at Nghia Dan Town Primary School.

Not only Phu Tho Secondary School, but many schools in the district have also focused on and made significant improvements in the quality of teaching and learning. Comrade Phan Tien Hai, Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee, shared: At the time of the district's separation, the quality of education and training in Nghia Dan was low compared to the provincial average, ranking 17th out of 20 districts, cities, and towns. The task of improving the quality of education and training has been a priority for the Party Committee, the government, and the entire political system, based on a thorough understanding and accurate identification of the limitations and weaknesses of each school, assigning the Department of Education and Training to direct quality improvement efforts. In particular, the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee always supports new approaches and the decisive actions of school principals, who are ready to change and make a "revolution" to improve the quality of education. Attention was paid to including in the planning process the promotion and appointment of teachers with outstanding teaching achievements and those who have produced excellent students at all levels... As a result, the quality of education in the district has seen many positive changes, improving its standing, including the overall teaching and learning movement and the quality of mass and advanced education. While the average score for the 10th grade entrance exam in the 2010-2011 school year was only 16.26 points, in the 2013-2014 school year it reached 26.35 points, an increase of 10.9 points. The number of students achieving provincial-level excellence was higher each year than the previous year, improving by two ranks compared to the provincial ranking.

Comprehensive development of education

Alongside focusing on improving the quality of education, Nghia Dan district has also concentrated on directing localities to actively promote the construction of schools meeting national standards, creating comprehensive educational development, and simultaneously achieving the goal of having 60-65% of schools meeting national standards by 2015, as set forth in the Resolution of the District Party Congress for the 2010-2015 term. It is noteworthy that in Nghia Dan, the process of building national standard schools took place under difficult conditions; the district's resources were limited; and the long-standing influence of subsidized agricultural and forestry farms and kindergartens led to dependence. However, localities have strived to overcome these challenges, integrating resources to prioritize the construction of standard schools. Nghia Tho is a particularly disadvantaged commune under Program 135; 85% of its population are ethnic minorities (Tho, Thai, and Thanh); the poverty rate at the beginning of the 2010-2015 term was 31.5%. Comrade Truong Cong Canh, Secretary of the Commune Party Committee, shared: "Nghia Tho's approach is to prioritize investment from Program 135 and other support sources to build spacious schools, purchase teaching equipment, and standard desks, chairs, and blackboards. For other auxiliary facilities, from schoolyards, training grounds, shelters, fences, parking areas, toilets; flowerbeds, lawns, and trees, creating green, clean, and beautiful school grounds, all are contributed by the people through money, materials, and labor. Regarding the organization, management, staffing, and quality of education, the schools are responsible for achieving the standards. Through this approach, both the primary and kindergarten schools in Nghia Tho have now met the standards (the secondary school has been merged into Nghia Phu commune)." Ms. Chu Thi Anh, Principal of Nghia Tho Primary School, said: “All the necessary conditions and factors for a national standard school have been met, ensuring the comprehensive operation of the school, creating opportunities for rural children to enjoy a good educational environment, and at the same time motivating the school's staff, teachers, and employees to be more committed and responsible to the school. That is the benefit of building a national standard school at Nghia Tho Primary School.”

Although located in a particularly disadvantaged area, Nghia Loi Kindergarten now possesses a fairly decent physical infrastructure thanks to the integration of various resources; numerous solutions have been implemented to improve the quality of the staff, with over 80% of the school's staff currently meeting or exceeding the required qualifications; and teaching and childcare methods have been innovated to fulfill the dream of the local government and people to build a standard-compliant school. It can be said that, thanks to the efforts of each locality and each school, Nghia Dan district now has 39 out of 69 schools recognized as meeting standards, accounting for 56.52%. And if an additional 3 schools meet the standards by the end of 2015 as planned, Nghia Dan will have completed the first target set by the District Party Committee Resolution: 60% of schools meeting the standards. Comrade Vo Tien Sy, Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee, shared: "This number is not yet among the top compared to the general level of the whole province, but it reflects the great efforts of Nghia Dan, because the school has achieved national standards with the requirement of ensuring 5 criteria, which is the most comprehensive reflection of Nghia Dan's education."

Mai Hoa