Over the past few days, I have seen the press write a lot about parents racing to buy awards and achievements for their children. Newspapers quoted teacher Van Nhu Cuong saying he was alarmed because he saw far too many applications filled with straight 10s and packed with achievements submitted to his school. Educational expert Dr. Vu Thu Huong took the floor to claim that “chasing achievements” like that is teaching children to lie. Then journalist Quynh Trang stated on VnExpress that parents are going out to “buy the future” for their kids. Many readers eagerly jumped into the comments section to condemn parents for teaching their children dishonesty early on, expressing disappointment in the Ministry of Education and Training, the Vietnamese education system, and so on.
As for me, I find those remarks from these individuals to be far too harsh. They are both unscientific and overly severe toward us parents, as well as toward the children themselves. (Please excuse me as I write this post, with all due respect to teacher Van Nhu Cuong, the journalists, and the educators).
Shouldn’t teacher Cuong and other school principals be very proud when many good students submit applications to their schools? People only scramble to get in because your schools are good. And of course, only those who are quite talented dare to apply there. For such talented kids, having good grades and good achievements is a matter of course. What on earth is there to be alarmed about when seeing 1,000 perfect academic transcripts out of 4,000 applications submitted to a good school? I think that is actually a low number. (Try looking at application files submitted to famous schools in the US, or just look at Hanoi-Amsterdam or Tran Dai Nghia High School, and you might see it reaches 100%).
Therefore, having many good application files submitted to good schools is not a bad signal at all. It is a completely natural thing. What is there to be shocked or worried about? In statistics, people call this “selection bias.” You chose the wrong sample and then made generalized statements as if they were absolute facts.
Second, of course, children nowadays—especially the crowd in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City—are genuinely smart. It is not surprising at all to see many application files with good academic and athletic achievements in urban areas. Family finances are well-off, and parents have the means, so the kids are certainly educated quite comprehensively. Is there any child from a middle-class family who doesn’t get to learn an instrument, play sports, and participate in competitions?
In fact, they are very proactive about studying, playing, and competing. I have never thought that parents could actually “force” their children to study, play sports, and compete. Millennial youth, especially in cities, have very strong “opinions.” How could you possibly “force” them into doing things? If you don’t believe it, try going home and “forcing” your children, and they will “rebel” against you right away.
Having many athletic achievements and high scores is also easy to understand. In the past, teachers were far too “stingy” with grades 9 and 10. Our generation studied until we almost gave up. How absurd was it that getting a score of 7 in literature was already considered very good? Isn’t that crazy? A transcript average of 8.0 was considered outstanding. Why be so strict? So now, with a more open scoring spectrum, if they deserve 9s and 10s, what is wrong with the whole class getting them? (Ever since the curriculum burden was reduced and teachers became less harsh and strict, having many 9s and 10s is no longer a strange phenomenon).
Furthermore, why be stingy with awards, certificates of merit, and recognition for children? If they are great, they get first prize. If average, second or third prize. If they haven’t reached it, give them an encouragement award. Why be so tight-fisted with children? School-level competitions yield school-level achievements, district levels have district-level ones, and city competitions have city-level achievements. Westerners are not overly strict about limiting awards for kids either. Anyone who competes gets an award. An encouragement award is still an award. That is simply honoring the children’s efforts, isn’t it?
When grades are low, and awards are few, people complain that it’s too hard. When there are many awards, people jump up and claim there is inflation, or that diplomas and awards are being bought. Do you know what percentage of contestants win awards in the International Olympiad? Over 50%, mind you.
The fourth point is that respectable educators and journalists again make the mistake of generalization: How many dishonest people are there in this achievement race? I think there are always some, but certainly not many. Respectable ladies and gentlemen: if us parents have enough money to pay for our children to attend good private schools and invest in preparing them for top-tier classes, we also have enough integrity and pride not to resort to “buying grade reports” or “purchasing achievements” for our children.
How many shameless people are there who go around paying money to “buy awards” for their kids? How many people are foolish enough to buy a swimming award for a child who doesn’t even know how to swim? That number is very, very small! So do not look at our children’s good extracurricular achievements and high scores to condemn parents for forcing their kids, running after awards, or “buying” the future. That is an insult to the children and to us as well.
And finally, if the kids study a lot, test like crazy, and strive for achievements to get into prestigious schools, that is a very good thing. They already know how to prepare for their future. Why feel so terribly sorry for them? Life is never easy, and success never comes easily, so why must everyone constantly condemn and worry so much? A good academic transcript and extracurricular achievements are precisely one of the best indicators showing whether you are serious about your life and your future or not. I challenge anyone who is lazy to become successful!
In short, I will not take high achievements, extracurriculars, and good grades as a heavy burden at all. I am very glad to see it. At the very least, parents have come to understand the need to invest comprehensively in their children, rather than keeping their faces buried strictly in academics. At the very least, sports and extracurriculars will play an important role in children’s education. This race will certainly be tiring and not easy, but there will be many winners.
