Proud of achievements, confident in breakthroughs

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son attended the conference. Also present were many outstanding mathematicians, members of the International Mathematical Olympiad teams of various periods.

Delegates attending the conference

In 1974, in the context of the struggle to unify the country that had not yet ended, at the initiative of a number of mathematicians, headed by Professor Hoang Tuy, with the support of Prime Minister Pham Van Dong, Vietnam sent for the first time a delegation of 5 students to participate in the International Mathematical Olympiad for high school students in the German Democratic Republic.

Leading the delegation were two teachers Le Hai Chau and Phan Duc Chinh. In their first participation, Vietnamese students caused a big surprise with their excellent achievements of 1 Gold medal, 1 Silver medal and 2 Bronze medals.

Since the first participation (in 1974) until now, the task of establishing Vietnamese student teams to participate in the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO) has been assigned by the Government to the Ministry of Education (1974-1990 period), and the Ministry of Education and Training (1990-present period), to take charge of the organization and implementation.

Up to now, the Vietnamese team alone has 289 students participating in IMO and has won 69 Gold medals, 118 Silver medals, 84 Bronze medals, and 3 certificates of merit.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son speaks at the conference

Over the past 50 years, Vietnamese IMO teams have had relatively stable achievements, highly appreciated by friends from other countries not only for the number of medals but also for their outstanding achievements. Such as the absolute score of 40/40 of former student Le Ba Khanh Trinh in 1979; two consecutive years of winning international gold medals by former student Ngo Bao Chau in 1988 and 1989, by former student Vu Ngoc Minh in 2001 and 2002...

The year 2007 marked a remarkable event in the mathematics community, which was Vietnam successfully organizing the 48th IMO with the participation of 93 countries and territories. The organization made a very good impression on the international community, affirming that the Vietnamese mathematics community is capable of performing highly specialized tasks.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Minister Hoang Minh Son expressed his pride in Vietnam's achievements in 50 years of participating in IMO, as well as the movement of studying Mathematics in the country; pride in the success of mathematicians and scientists using mathematics in the country...

The successful organization of domestic and international exams in high schools and universities motivates students and teachers to study and teach; affirms the position of schools, localities and Vietnam in Mathematics; promotes the study of Mathematics from high school and the use of Mathematics in various fields and in life.

Professor Ngo Bao Chau speaks at the conference

The Deputy Minister affirmed: The Ministry of Education and Training always emphasizes the role of Mathematics, from high school to university and postgraduate training, in research. Currently, with the development of science and technology, mathematics becomes more and more important.

To maintain and improve the achievements of the Vietnamese Math team, promote Math teaching, increase interest and learn Math effectively, according to the Deputy Minister, we must start from high school, do better in teaching and learning Math in high school, and do better research in universities. How to make Math not only occupy more in the training program but also make teaching and learning Math more interesting and effective for learners.

“With today’s technology, a good math teacher can teach many students, not only in his school or locality but nationwide. The contribution of a good teacher will therefore be broader. Students do not only learn from one good teacher but can learn from many good teachers, thereby having more good students. Thus, our mathematics has made a breakthrough development,” said Deputy Minister Hoang Minh Son.

Looking back after 50 years, Professor Ngo Bao Chau affirmed that the IMO international math competition is still a playground for the intellectual sport of mathematics, and is partly a measure to evaluate a country's capacity to develop mathematics education.

Delegates discuss at the workshop

Of course, like life, there are ups and downs, but in each period we have had very outstanding individuals. IMO alumni have been and are professional scientists, with international reputation, actively contributing to the development of Vietnamese mathematics. This can be seen clearly through the very busy mathematical activities in the past summer months, not only in Hanoi but also in many other cities and localities.

“We have also initially found a way to create connections between Vietnamese scientists working abroad and domestic scientists in research and training through the model of the Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics, which will then spread throughout the country,” Professor Ngo Bao Chau shared.

Expressing his joy at the achievements, especially the solidarity and cohesion between the Vietnamese mathematics community at home and abroad, the attention of the Government and mathematics as one of the favorite subjects of young Vietnamese people, but besides that, Professor Ngo Bao Chau also said that there are still questions, how to make the movement of learning mathematics more sustainable and widespread. How to make mathematics and other basic subjects become a voluntary choice of young people...

At the workshop, based on the results and lessons learned after 50 years of Vietnam's participation in IMO, delegates discussed and shared how Vietnam can maintain and improve its Math achievements on the international stage and solutions for sustainable and widespread development of the Math learning movement.