Nghe An awaits 'golden' opportunities at regional and international Olympic competitions

Many potential candidates

Bui Van Lam (12A5 student, Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted) is one of two excellent students who won the First Prize in Biology at the National Excellent Student Competition this school year. Before that, to achieve this achievement, Bui Van Lam had made remarkable progress because Lam's entrance into the Biology specialized class was not high and he was not a strong candidate to be selected for the national team. During the process of joining the team, Lam was also unlucky when in the 11th grade exam, Lam fell ill on the day of the exam and only won the Encouragement Prize.

To get the best results in the National Excellent Student Exam, Lam stayed up almost every night to study until 2 or 3 am. Due to difficult circumstances, both of his parents are farmers and live in the countryside, so Lam did not have much support from his family. However, that motivated Lam to be determined to study well and achieve results because first of all, he wanted to "escape poverty". Teacher Tran Mong Lai - homeroom teacher of class 12A5 and also Lam's direct tutor said: Lam is a hard-working, diligent student, has a good mindset, is passionate about learning and is not afraid of difficulties or hardships.

Student Bui Van Lam and his homeroom teacher. Photo: Duc Anh

This victory also gave Lam a chance to enter the second round of the national team selection for the International Biology Olympiad. This year in particular, with outstanding achievements, the Biology team of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted had 4 contestants selected for the second round, including 2 students winning first prize and 2 students winning second prize.

In the Math team, this is the first time the whole team has 11 students entering the second round. In this list, there are 4 students who won first prize at the National Excellent Student Competition, namely Tran Anh Quoc, Le Nam Khanh, Phan Nhat Hoang and Duong Quynh Chau (all students of class 12 A1). Notably, in the Math team, there are 2 students Le Nam Khanh and Tran Anh Quoc in the top 3 candidates with the highest scores. In addition, there is a special candidate, Vu Duc Vinh - who won a Silver Medal at the 2019 International Olympiad.

Although the exam has many changes, the Math team's review is still maintained regularly. Photo: My Ha

For Physics, 2020 also marked a successful return with 3 students winning first prizes, namely Mai Quang Tuan, Phan Huy An and Nguyen Quang Long, and all 3 of these students were selected for round 2. In addition, 3 students who won second prizes with high scores were also considered for the team. In the Informatics team, among the 2 students who entered round 2, one student had won a Silver Medal at the 2019 Asian Informatics Olympiad. The Chemistry team also had 3 students entering round 2, including 1 student who won the national first prize.

Waiting to be rubbed

Thus, with 26 students entering the second round to select the National team to participate in the International and Regional Olympic Competitions, this is the most successful year for Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted and Nghe An is also one of the provinces with the largest number of contestants in the country. Since January, after the Ministry of Education and Training announced the list, the teams have focused on reviewing for the exam and waiting for the opportunity to compete to enter the National team.

However, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, for more than 3 months now, students' revision has been interrupted. Accordingly, in March, when the Covid-19 epidemic was entering a complicated phase, the teams had to postpone their review sessions. In May, the Ministry of Education and Training continued to issue Document No. 1569/BGDĐT-QLCL on not organizing the selection exam for national teams to compete in the 2020 regional and international Olympics. This is also very unfortunate news for candidates and schools.

Some outstanding members of the Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted team. Photo: PV

RecentDue to the positive developments of the Covid-19 pandemic in Vietnam and around the world, some countries have basically controlled the epidemic, so the host countries of the Olympic competition have proactively asked for opinions from participating countries about still organizing the competition online or announcing the postponement of the expected competition time to October 2020. Therefore, earlier this week, the Ministry of Education and Training directed functional units to continue monitoring and updating the situation of organizing the 2020 Olympics; proactively develop plans to send delegations of officials and students to participate in the competition in case the host countries officially decide to organize the Olympic competition online.

Although up to now, the plan to select the national team to participate in the regional and international Olympic competitions has not been announced, this information has brought new hope to the teams. Teacher Ho Sy Hung - head of the Math team - Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted shared: Although in the past there has been a lot of unfavorable information coming to the team, teachers and students of the Math team still persevere in studying for the exam to wait for the opportunity to compete. We also encourage students to try and believe and even if there is only a small opportunity, they must strive to achieve the best results. Student Vu Duc Vinh shared: Although there is different information every day, we all hope that the exam will take place so that we can demonstrate our abilities.

As a teacher who has led the Physics team to participate in international and regional Olympia competitions for many years, teacher Tran Van Nga - Vice Principal of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted also said: 2020 is a very successful year for Phan School and also a year when we have many potential candidates, many of whom are in the top 5 with the highest achievements in the National Excellent Student Competition. Therefore, if the exams continue to be held, it will be good news for all candidates and we are looking forward to the upcoming exams, regardless of the form they are held in... Previously, the Physics Organizing Committee also issued a document on the organization of this year's exam and it is expected that the exam will still be held online.

Student Hoang Phan Huu Duc (Informatics team) won a Silver Medal at the 2019 Asian Informatics Olympiad. Photo: My Ha

At Vinh University High School for the Gifted, this year the school has 2 students who made it to the second round of the Biology and Mathematics teams. Although the number of candidates participating is not large, but looking at the general situation, teacher Le Xuan Son - Vice Principal of the school and also the head of Mathematics said: This year Nghe An is facing a golden opportunity when some teams have the opportunity to send more than one member to the national team. Therefore, although the exam has been interrupted and extended, we still hope that the exam will take place so that students can compete and have the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge.

This expectation has now been further fueled with hope. As for the candidates, they can also devote themselves to the upcoming exam as all their rights in the High School Graduation Exam and admission to universities and colleges are still guaranteed. This is also a great source of encouragement for the candidates in this difficult time.