Many junior and senior high schools across Da Nang have engaged in organising or participating in scientific and technical research playgrounds for their pupils. This is a premise to improve the quality of education and training, meet the requirements of the 2018 General Education Programme, and help pupils integrate and develop comprehensively.

Judges evaluate ideas to participate in the science and technology research competition for secondary school students in the 2024-2025 school year of Thanh Khe district. Photo: X.D

Passion nurtured from school-level competitions

In mid-November 2024, the Thanh Khe District Office of Education and Training organised a district-level science and technology competition for junior high school pupils in the 2024-2025 school year. The event attracted 44 projects from pupils of 10 junior high schools across the district.

As a result, 7 projects won first prize and were selected to participate in the municipal-level competition in the 2024-2025 school year. Notably, the Huynh Thuc Khang Junior High School excelled with 2 projects winning first prizes. The school has been achieving impressive results at district and municipal-level science and technology competitions for many consecutive years.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh, Principal of Huynh Thuc Khang Junior High School, said that the school cares about and nurtures pupils' science and technology ideas from the summer vacation every year. In addition, the school maintains the "I love science" club, and a school-level science research competition, aimed at providing pupils a useful playground to exchange and enrich their knowledge in this activity.

On the other hand, pupils' scientific research ideas and projects are accompanied and supported greatly by parents and teachers. Therefore, issues of funding and equipment for research to perfect pupils' ideas are always supported promptly.

"When their ideas are entered into school-level, district-level or higher-level competitions, the school provides financial support, especially printing, to encourage and create conditions for pupils to research, create, and indulge in their passions" said Mrs. Ngoc Anh.

In addition to the junior high schools, senior high schools also promote scientific and technical research activities by periodically organising school-level competitions to select outstanding projects to upgrade and perfect to compete in the municipal-level competition.

During the 2024-2025 school year, Ngo Quyen Senior High School-hosted scientific research contest attracted 19 projects participating, the highest ever.

Mr. Dang Cong Vinh, Principal of the Ngo Quyen Senior High School, said that this year's projects applied knowledge to solve real life problems, such as remote-controlled rescue buoy, research on using plant silk as paintbrush material, and vape detector - smokeless warrior.

"Although there are many difficulties related to facilities and lack of equipment, thanks to the efforts of teachers and pupils, the quality of this year's projects is highly appreciated. The important thing is that through the competition, pupils can apply the knowledge they have learned to solve problems in real life. From there, it helps them develop comprehensively, responding to the changes of the 4.0 industrial revolution and the process of international integration", Mr. Vinh emphasised.

Creating the best conditions for pupils

The Le Quy Don Senior High School for the Gifted is considered one of the city's leading schools in scientific and technical research activities, with many students winning high prizes in regional and international-level competitions.

Last October, the school's Supernova team with members Le Minh Loc and Nguyen Duc Gia Bao won first prize at the Solve for Tomorrow 2024 contest organized by Samsung for their application "Warning of dangerous situations for children and women".

This victory is a worthy reward for their tireless efforts and creativity in applying technology to create a safe and sustainable society, developing STEM education. More happily, from the first prize of the competition, the pupils brought to their school a STEM creative space worth US$ 70,000 sponsored by Samsung.

Le Minh Loc shared that “Thanks to participating in scientific research competition, I learned more about my own strengths and weaknesses, especially practicing some soft skills and the ability to present in front of a crowd. In the future, I hope to access more technical courses from such competitions to practice and improve my skills, and help the community more”.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Sieu, an IT teacher at Le Quy Don Senior High School for the Gifted, said that scientific research activities in senior high schools contributed positively to innovating teaching and learning methods in the direction of promoting learners' abilities, and meeting the requirements of the 2018 General Education Programme.

From this activity, pupils have a clearer career orientation, accumulating many helpful skills such as summarizing, analyzing data, designing, and presenting. However, scientific and technical research activities for senior high school pupils in the city are still limited due to the lack of facilities, equipment, and funding. Therefore, aside from creating playgrounds, schools need to create spaces with necessary conditions to facilitate pupils' research. In particular, it is necessary to strengthen coordination between universities to maximise material resources and experienced human resources in this activity.

Moreover, the focus will be on boosting socialisation for scientific research activities, maintaining and expanding playgrounds in the city, seeking and creating conditions for pupils to participate in regional, national and international competitions.

Reporting by KHOI NGUYEN - Translating by M.DUNG