The advanced school model is not really a breakthrough.

Not synchronized

Dang Thai Mai Secondary School is the first secondary school in Vinh city to implement the model.advanced schoolwith 18 classes and 666 students. If in the first year of implementation, this model is applied to general education students, then from the 2023-2024 school year, all students registering to study the advanced model at the school will have an entrance exam.

In addition to studying culture according to the program of the Ministry of Education and Training, students studying the advanced program are taught additional subjects to enhance the development of capacity, talent, IT, Foreign Language, STEM education. With this program, the school arranges a schedule of 2 sessions/day and organizes boarding if parents have a need.

According to the school's assessment, after 2 years of implementation, the school's educational quality continues to be maintained. Accordingly, in the 2022-2023 school year, 82.74% of students were classified as good, 16.44% of students were classified as fair and 0.82% had a passing rate. In the first semester of this school year, 90.84% ​​of students were classified as good.

Previously, with the advantage of being the top quality secondary school in Vinh city, in the first 2 years of implementing the advanced school model, Dang Thai Mai Secondary School did not encounter many difficulties in recruiting students. Parents whose children study at Dang Thai Mai Secondary School also do not have to worry much about the teaching staff and learning environment. However, in addition to the prescribed cultural curriculum, many parents are still concerned when the school implements the enhanced subject program.

A parent whose child is studying in grade 7 at Dang Thai Mai Secondary School said: “I find the advanced program too heavy because the children study every day of the week, including many afternoons of intensive subjects such as STEM, IT, gifted, and intensive English, and it is not really effective. After school, the children still have to go to extra classes outside to keep up with the program, so there is no time to rest…”.

This parent is also concerned because after 2 years of studying the IT program, at the end of the year the school requires parents to pay more than 600,000 VND/year to take an international certificate exam, while this certificate is not required in high school.

In addition to the above concerns, Dang Thai Mai Secondary School is currently facing difficulties in terms of facilities. The school has provided lunch for nearly 300 students but does not have a cafeteria, kitchen, or boarding area. The meals are being contracted by the school to an outside supplier. Many items in the school are damaged and degraded, and some subject and functional classrooms are still missing.

Implementing the Project "Piloting the construction of advanced kindergartens and general schools following the trend of international integration in Nghe An province, period 2021 - 2030", from the 2022 - 2023 school year up to now, Nghe An has piloted the advanced school model at 14 kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools and high schools in Nghi Loc district, Do Luong, Hoang Mai town and Vinh city with 132 classes, more than 4,200 students participating. Through the implementation process, it shows that the advanced school model has not been as expected.

In fact, many schools have been deployed, called advanced schools, but have not been invested in facilities, teaching equipment, and have not been given priority in arranging enough teachers.

Because two teaching models are being implemented at the same time in one school, there is an overlap in the arrangement of teachers. Arranging the timetable for additional subjects is difficult due to the schedules of the centers. The school is lacking many teachers and facilities.

The school does not have a modern Foreign Language classroom, does not have enough computers to meet the requirements of the IC3 Computer Science room according to the enhanced program, does not have an interactive board, and is not equipped with easily movable tables and chairs to suit the form of group work. In addition, there is no swimming pool for practice, no standard basketball court, and no practice area for students.

Teacher Tang Thi Hien - Principal of Truong Thi Secondary School

Lack of breakthrough and difference

Up to now, the advanced school model has been implemented at all four levels of education in Nghe An. The implementation process shows that problems occur at all levels for many different reasons. If at preschool level, the current difficulties are concentrated in investment costs, facilities, and teaching staff, at the remaining levels, each level has its own characteristics.

In Vinh city, after 2 years of implementation at primary and secondary levels, many opinions still believe that implementing the advanced school model in wards and communes for universal students is not appropriate. Even when students are enrolled, parents still have many concerns.

Ms. Hoang Phuong Thao - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Vinh City admitted: "Before implementing the enrollment work, all parents had seen the study packages, the organization method and had a written agreement... but after studying, many parents did not agree with the study program, were no longer interested in the enhanced English program, the international IT program, and even asked not to continue studying the advanced program.

We believe that it is necessary to review the curriculum of advanced school models, implement enhanced subjects and have more training partners to make it easier for schools to choose.

For high school, the so-called advanced model, but in reality the quality of teaching is not guaranteed, the source of input is below the standard of traditional classes. Therefore, the biggest concern of schools is that it is difficult to ensure the output as committed, especially in Foreign Languages ​​and Information Technology. Meanwhile, when parents register their children for advanced classes, they are skeptical about the training program, even thinking that it is a non-public system.

Regarding this issue, recently, the Department of Culture and Society, the Provincial People's Council has conducted a survey on the implementation of the advanced school model at a number of schools in Vinh city. Through the inspection and evaluation process, many concerns have been raised. Ms. Luc Thi Lien - Deputy Head of the Department of Culture and Society, the Provincial People's Council asked: "We do not have input standards for advanced classes at high school level, so it is difficult to build output... Or is there a difference in quality standards between the two levels of education, for example, at the junior high school level, Dang Thai Mai Junior High School has very high input requirements. But when it comes to high school, students who do not pass public schools are put into advanced classes, the quality is "squeezed", leading to an imbalance?".

In addition to the above issues, the representative of the Culture - Social Committee, Provincial People's Council also said that the current advanced model is not different, schools have not boldly changed the program to be different from regular classes.

In addition, schools are still confused about how to organize, there is no uniformity in the collection method in schools, the framework program is not suitable, leading to overload for students. There are also no specific instructions on the implementation of collection and expenditure to create a corridor for schools to implement.

With the above shortcomings, the Department of Culture and Society, the Provincial People's Council recommends that the Department of Education and Training needs to evaluate fully and objectively to gain experience in the implementation process. The evaluation must be based on the project's objectives and clearly identify the nature of the advanced school model being applied, the teaching and learning process and output standards.

Mr. Chu Duc Thai - Head of the Culture - Society Committee, Provincial People's Council also expressed his opinion: "The goal of building an advanced school model is consistent with the development trend and if implemented according to the project, it will bring many benefits to children in Nghe An. But because it is a pilot project, there will be some good and some bad aspects. Therefore, correct and accurate assessment, pointing out the shortcomings, problems, difficulties and obstacles will be an important basis for proposing an implementation plan in the coming time. During the implementation process, the goal must be for students, not for business or profit."