Nghe An Education and the requirement to properly evaluate advanced school and class models to improve implementation efficiency

After the first year of implementation, although the model continues to be replicated, there are still concerns about the program, the organization of teaching and learning, and the quality.

"Heavy" on extra subjects

There are 2 types of students studyingadvanced modelAt Dang Thai Mai Secondary School. In the class with admission, all students have good academic performance and are carefully selected from the ability assessment test, so the quality of education is guaranteed and is a source for the school to develop key quality.

In the admission classes, because the target students are general education students, there are students who, after a year of studying, begin to “fail” because they cannot keep up with the program. For example, at the end of the year, the school organizes an exam to obtain the IC3 IT certificate - an IT program under the enhanced program. However, out of more than 90 general education students, about 40 students do not meet the requirements, and some students even fail the exam 3-4 times.

6th grade students of the advanced school model at Dang Thai Mai Secondary School perform their gifted subjects at the year-end ceremony. Photo: DTM Secondary School

Ms. H - a parent of Dang Thai Mai Secondary School said: During the process of sending her child to study in the advanced class, she felt secure about the teaching staff and educational environment because for important subjects, the school arranged teachers to teach both specialized classes and regular classes, so the children all learned from competent teachers.

But in an advanced environment with high professional requirements, the remaining classes are quite "weak" and must have relatively good abilities to keep up. Besides, the advanced program with many subjects such as IT, Stem, talent, English... takes up a lot of time in the afternoon and the children have to study all afternoon.

Meanwhile, in addition to studying all day at school, most parents have to send their children to extra classes outside, so their children's study schedules are very tight. "Recently at the year-end parent meeting, parents in our class also suggested that the school reduce extra classes so that the children can go home early in the afternoon and spend time on cultural subjects," Ms. H added.

Talking about the results after one year of implementing the advanced school model, teacher Nguyen Thi Thu Hien - Principal of Dang Thai Mai Secondary School also admitted that there was a gap in quality between the two groups of 6th grade students in the last school year. This, more or less, made the school worried because from the school's point of view, the advanced model must be associated with quality and output commitment.

The first class of 6th graders at Dang Thai Mai Secondary School studied under the advanced program. Photo: DTM Secondary School

In addition to the above difficulties, the leaders of Dang Thai Mai Secondary School also hope that the city will pay attention to supporting the school in investing in facilities, building additional auxiliary works such as kitchens, student living areas, etc.

Meanwhile, although the school currently has 189 students registered for boarding (and is expected to double that number next school year), it has not yet organized meals for the students. Instead, it has to sign a contract with an outside food supplier, so many parents are still not satisfied. The students are of junior high school age, but they still have to sleep in class (right at their desks), so it is not safe.

Pursuant to Decision No. 147/QD-UBND approving the "Pilot project to build advanced kindergartens and general schools following the trend of international integration in Nghe An province, period 2021-2030", in the 2022-2023 school year, Huynh Thuc Khang High School is the first high school in the province to be assigned to pilot this project with 5 10th grade classes.

After 1 year of implementation, the school has just held a preliminary review with students, parents and teaching staff. Previously, to be admitted to the advanced class, students needed to pass at least one non-public school in the area, so the input quality was considered to be in line with the set criteria. However, the input gap between classes still has a difference when there are classes with the number of students admitted all reaching 22 - 23 points. However, there are also classes that have passed the public school entrance exam but the admission score is quite low, and that leads to difficulties in the teaching and learning process.

An extracurricular activity of students at Huynh Thuc Khang High School. Photo: NTCC

“At first, when I sent my child to the advanced class, I was quite worried about the class’s input. But after 1 year, he has caught up with the curriculum and is learning with his friends, teachers and school. The quality of the class is also quite good, the percentage of excellent students is quite high (24/37 children).

What parents are concerned about now is the arrangement of the study program because the children study all day, with many additional subjects such as IT, Foreign Languages, Talents and even cultural subjects. Therefore, it takes up a lot of time. Meanwhile, the 11th and 12th grade program will be very heavy and the children are aiming to pass the university entrance exam, so we hope to reduce the afternoon program.

Mr. Nguyen Van T (Vinh Tan ward, Vinh city) has a child studying in the advanced class model at Huynh Thuc Khang High School and said:

Through the school year summary conference, teacher Phan Xuan Phan - Principal of Huynh Thuc Khang High School also said: We have listened to all the comments from parents, homeroom teachers, subject teachers and students with a receptive spirit. In order to promote strengths but also overcome limitations in the next school year to make appropriate adjustments.

Progress must go hand in hand with quality

Vinh City is a pioneer in implementing“The pilot project to build advanced kindergartens and general schools following the international integration trend in Nghe An province, period 2021-2030", and in the first year was implemented synchronously at all 4 levels from kindergarten to high school.

After 1 year of implementation, Ms. Hoang Thi Phuong Thao - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Vinh City assessed that although the advanced program had initial difficulties, it had achieved some remarkable results. "I think that at this time, schools are on the right track and following the roadmap of the project and have done a good job in recruiting students, organizing teaching and learning, and implementing many enhanced programs in schools. However, besides that, there are still difficulties in terms of staff, facilities, and operating mechanisms (especially in terms of finance)..." - Ms. Thao said.

Parents come to register for the advanced school model at Truong Thi Secondary School. Photo: My Ha

The Head of the Department of Education and Training of Vinh City also talked about the difficulties when the city had to do both universal education and build advanced, high-quality school models, so there were times when the implementation of the advanced school model did not receive the consensus of some people. Therefore, from the next school year 2023 - 2024, when the city continues to build advanced school models at Hung Dung 2 Kindergarten and Truong Thi Secondary School, the city determined to improve the quality of teaching and learning to thereby create trust and consensus from parents.

“The ultimate goal of the advanced school model that we are aiming for is to train students with dual degrees according to international standards. However, that must be done step by step. In particular, next school year, to ensure quality, we will make adjustments. In particular, Dang Thai Mai Secondary School does not prioritize general education students in Hung Phuc ward (the school's location), but only prioritizes entrance exams.

At Truong Thi Secondary School, we only enroll 35 students per class, focusing on quality with a commitment that 100% of students must pass public schools. In addition, we will increase teachers at Dang Thai Mai Secondary School to provide professional support and teach some subjects that teachers do not meet the requirements.

Ms. Hoang Thi Phuong Thao - Head of Education and Training Department of Vinh City.

At the high school level, this year, advanced class enrollment will also be expanded to 4 more classes at Ha Huy Tap High School and Le Viet Thuat High School with 2 enrollment methods: direct enrollment for students with international English certificates and based on 10th grade entrance exam scores. Students registering for advanced classes must have at least good academic performance.

Students in Vinh city register for admission to grade 6 under the advanced school model at Dang Thai Mai Secondary School. Photo: My Ha

In the initial implementation, the exchange of teacher Cao Thanh Bao - Principal of Ha Huy Tap High School also said: Currently, there are 9 students with Foreign Language certificates registering for the first wish to enter the advanced class and this is a good sign. The goal of the school is to build an advanced class to help students develop all skills, training key quality. In addition, students participating in these classes are enhanced with cultural programs so that they have more opportunities to be admitted to top universities in the country and foreign universities...

After 1 year of implementing the advanced school model, it is expected that this July, the Department of Education and Training will conduct a preliminary review, evaluation, and experience drawing.

Discussing further about the implementation of this model, Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung - Head of Secondary Education Department, Department of Education and Training also said: While the advanced school model has been implemented in many localities across the country, Nghe An has just implemented the pilot, so it is inevitable that there are difficulties. That is about the process of implementing the program and organizing teaching and arranging the teaching staff. In addition, the policy mechanisms to implement the model are still unclear, causing confusion for some schools. On the parents' side, when sending their children to advanced schools with high tuition fees, they are also placing high expectations...

Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the model objectively and gradually adjust it to suit reality and meet the wishes of the majority of parents and students.