Hai Phong honours brainy students

Hai Phong (VNA) – The northern city of Hai Phong honoured four students who won prizes at the 59th International Mathematics Olympiad in Rumania and the 2018 Intel International Science and Technology Fair (Intel ISEF) during a ceremony on July 16.

All of them are students at Tran Phu Gifted High School.

Trinh Van Hoan, a 12th grader, grabbed a silver medal and Tran Viet Hoan, at the same grade, claimed bronze at the International Mathematics Olympiad. Meanwhile, high school students Le Tuyet Quynh Anh and Pham Thi Minh Hue earned the Third Award for their biochemistry project – “Novel Bacteriophage Lysin: A Solution for Antibiotic Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infection in Vietnam” at the Intel ISEF.

During the ceremony, the city presented awards and gifts worth a total of more than 1.8 billion VND (77,400 USD) to the winning students and their teachers at Tran Phu Gifted High School. Hoan was rewarded 400 million VND (17,200 USD) while the other three each received 300 million VND (12,900 USD).

Last week, the northern port city adopted a resolution on incentives for the discovery and training of gifted students and to reward excellent teachers who educate students for national and international academic competitions. The budget for the rewards is estimated at about 27 billion VND (1.16 million USD) annually.

The rewarded students and teachers were the first in the city to benefit from the resolution.

Speaking at the event, Secretary of the city’s Party Committee Le Van Thanh congratulated the students and teachers on their achievements which honours their school and families and brings pride to the city.

He said the city’s leaders identified improving education as a top priority and the city has been heavily investing in upgrading educational facilities and enhancing the capacity of local teachers.

The secretary urged the entire city, including state agencies and private sector, to work together to motivate and aid the development of talented people.

The 59th International Mathematics Olympiad took place in Cluj-Napoca, Romania from July 3 – 14, attracting contestants from 116 countries. All six Vietnamese students taking part in the competition brought home medals, including one gold by 12th grader Nguyen Quang Bin from Gifted High School of the Hanoi University of Natural Science at the National University of Vietnam. This year, Vietnam ranked 20th in the medal tally.

The Intel ISEF is the world’s large pre-college science contest which aims to promote the development of science through education.

Besides Anh and Hue from Hai Phong, Le Ha Khoa and Nguyen Phuong Nam from Nguyen Hue High School for Gifted Students in Hanoi received a Certificate of Honourable Mention for their study on concentration of urine neurotransmitters of Dopaminergic and Serotonergic system and the relationship to behavioural disorders in patients with online game addiction.

This year, it was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the US from May 13 – 19, gathering nearly 1,800 students from 79 countries and territories with more than 1,400 projects. The Vietnamese delegation brought eight projects to the competition and was one of 43 countries and territories to win prizes. –VNA