Three students from a rice-growing district school won first prize in the Nghệ An Provincial Excellent Student Competition.

When teachers and students work together

Phan Tat Tuan, a 9th-grade student from Bach Lieu Secondary School, is one of five students who won first prize in Mathematics this year with a very high score of 18 points. Previously, after completing the exam, although quite confident in his results, Tuan didn't think he would win first prize.

Tuan said: “Mathematics is a strong point for many schools and is one of the three subjects with the highest number of candidates. Therefore, I think there will be many students who are better than me, and I am very happy with the results I have achieved,” the male student shared.

Tuan doesn't come from a family of academics; his mother is a freelancer and his father works abroad. When Tuan first passed the entrance exam to Bach Lieu Secondary School, he knew he wasn't the best student. His only advantage was his particular fondness for numbers, which gave him a chance to develop later in a specialized school environment. Therefore, in grades 7, 8, and 9, Tuan consistently won high awards in the school and district-level academic competitions.

In particular, besides winning first prize in Mathematics in grades 8 and 9, Tuan also won one first prize and one second prize in Physics at the district's excellent student competition. Because he excelled in all subjects, Tuan was one of the few students selected for the school's teams by many teachers, including English. Later, Tuan decided to choose Mathematics partly because it was his passion, and partly because he liked the teaching style of Mr. Trinh Ba Huyen (his homeroom teacher and direct mentor).

Throughout the process of coaching the Math team, Mr. Huyen was particularly impressed with Tuan because this student always exuded passion, had very intelligent problem-solving methods, and possessed a strong analytical mind. Tuan's advantage was his neat handwriting, allowing him to present his work clearly and confidently, resulting in consistently good test scores. In fact, not only in the Provincial Excellent Student Competition but also in the qualifying rounds and cluster exams, Tuan consistently achieved scores of 16-18 points, placing him among the few candidates with the highest scores.

Speaking about this year's exam, teacher Trinh Ba Huyen also shared his own difficulties, because this is the first exam where the questions were designed according to the 2018 General Education Program. Therefore, despite having 23 years of experience and many years of training gifted students, with many students winning high awards, teacher Trinh Ba Huyen still faced difficulties.

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This year, the provincial-level excellent student competition was held early, but the Department of Education and Training only released the sample exam questions in early September. The exam structure and types of exercises are significantly different from previous years. Previously, a problem only required solving the problem and getting the answer, but the new problems require applying learned knowledge to solve real-world problems.

Teacher Trinh Ba Huyen

According to Mr. Huyen, one of the obstacles for the teams is the limited availability of reference materials and sample questions based on the new curriculum. Therefore, to prepare for the Provincial Excellent Student Competition, not only students but also teachers must persevere and overcome difficulties.

As soon as the exam structure was finalized, the Mathematics team at Bach Lieu Secondary School held a professional meeting to study the questions. Based on this, each teacher was assigned to independently research and create their own applied math problems. In addition, they connected with teachers from other schools to share and exchange experiences. Teachers also regularly updated their knowledge, reading numerous real-world math problems from international sources, in mathematics magazines like "Mathematics and Youth," "Mathematics for Children," and "Pi Magazine" to find additional resources.

Besides preparing the exam questions, before the official Provincial Excellent Student Exam for 9th Grade, teacher Trinh Ba Huyen and his students also underwent a thorough and continuous preparation process from July until now. During that time, even though some exam preparation sessions lasted up to 5 hours, neither the teacher nor the students ever felt tired. On the contrary, the new exam with many challenges became a motivation for both teacher and students to strive harder.

Thanks to this effort, the Yen Thanh district's Math team this year (with Bach Lieu Secondary School as the main force) had 10 students winning awards, including 1 first prize, 3 second prizes, 3 third prizes, and 3 consolation prizes.

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I think that even though the exam was difficult and highly competitive, we were very well prepared. Furthermore, our teachers had reviewed everything thoroughly, covering all the necessary knowledge, so even though this year's exam questions were "unusual" and had many new aspects, we weren't surprised when taking the test.

Student Phan Tat Tuan

Conquer the new exam subject.

This year's exam season also marks the first time the Education sector has introduced new subjects, including Natural Sciences and History - Geography. In their first attempt, exceeding expectations, students from Bach Lieu Secondary School won two first prizes in Natural Sciences 1 (Physics) and Natural Sciences 2 (Chemistry). These two students also ranked second in the entire province.

Winning first prize in Natural Science 1 (Physics), Nguyen Trong Phi Hoang, a student in class 9A, said that this result exceeded his expectations. The exam was also a challenge for him, because the new exam required candidates not only to do well in the specialized Physics subject (14 points for the essay section), but also to do well in the general knowledge multiple-choice section (6 points), including Chemistry and Biology – subjects that are not his strengths.

Remarkably, despite only having a little over 30 minutes to complete the multiple-choice section, Hoang scored a perfect 6 points. In the essay section, the new question format, which focused on practical applications and real-world connections, allowed Hoang to fully utilize his abilities, as he has always enjoyed Physics due to its high applicability.

Adding to this, Hoang said: Compared to previous exams, to take the Natural Sciences exam, students have to study all three subjects, and the amount of knowledge is much heavier. To prepare effectively, I created a schedule that corresponds to the school's tutoring schedule. In addition to studying in class, I did many comprehensive multiple-choice tests to hone my test-taking skills.

"When the teachers reviewed general knowledge, I also practiced comprehensive multiple-choice questions at home. However, I still dedicated most of my time to Physics. Because of this thorough preparation, I felt confident and secure in my knowledge when I entered the exam," Phi Hoang said about his study schedule.

Meanwhile, to win first prize in Natural Science 2 (Chemistry), Bui Danh Hoang (9A class) also said that he had made a great effort to complete the 150-minute exam: “The exam was quite long, so after receiving the paper, I focused on doing the work and almost had no time to observe my surroundings. In my opinion, the general knowledge multiple-choice section wasn't too difficult. But the essay section in Chemistry had many exercises that required a solid understanding of the knowledge, accurate calculations, and certainty in each step, otherwise, I wouldn't have enough time.”

The success of the two students, Nguyen Trong Phi Hoang and Bui Danh Hoang, is also the success of their teachers, Vu Thi Nga - the chemistry teacher who coached them, and Phan Thi Duyen - the physics teacher who coached them.

Speaking about the task of training gifted students at the provincial level in these new subjects, the teachers of the Natural Sciences Department at Bach Lieu Secondary School admitted that there were quite a few difficulties. But thanks to proactive efforts, teaching and learning still yielded good results.

Teacher Vu Thi Nga shared: "This is the first provincial-level excellent student competition under the new General Education Program. Therefore, throughout the previous three school years, schools and teachers had not yet determined how to organize the exam, whether the subjects would be tested traditionally or in an integrated manner."

Selecting talented students was therefore difficult, even though teachers had identified promising talents and provided early training. It wasn't until the beginning of 9th grade, after receiving an official announcement from the Department of Education and Training, that the Yen Thanh District Education and Training Office organized the district-level gifted student competition and selected a team for the provincial competition. To avoid being caught off guard, the school proactively planned review sessions based on the new curriculum and adjusted its student assessment methods.

With 3 first prizes, 17 second prizes, 10 third prizes, and 12 consolation prizes, Bach Lieu Secondary School had a successful competition season.

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We have always considered the provincial-level excellent student competition as a "benchmark" for evaluating the quality of our school's teaching. Therefore, even though this year is the first competition organized under the new General Education Program, the school has required subject departments to study and closely follow the guidelines of the district and provincial education departments, and to innovate the methods of testing and evaluation. The school has policies to encourage and motivate teachers and students to strive for excellence.
Throughout the implementation process, the school consistently received attention from the Department of Education and Training and the district authorities, which encouraged us to successfully complete our tasks and exceed our set goals.

Teacher Nguyen Phuc Loc - Principal of Bach Lieu Secondary School