On April 10, 2024, the Ministry of Education and Training issued Circular 06/2024 promulgating the Regulations on the National Science and Technology Research Competition for Secondary and High School Students, replacing the regulations issued since 2012.
Article 22 of the new Regulation stipulates: “Responsibilities of the contestant unit: Directing educational institutions to organize and guide students in scientific research; Organizing the selection of contest projects, preparing documents and registering for the contest according to regulations”.
According to the new Regulations, each Department of Education and Training; each high school under the Ministry and ministerial-level agency; each university, college, institute, and academy with a high school is a participating unit.
Based on the above contents, from the effective date of Circular 06/2024, the National Science and Technology Competition for secondary and high school students will not be organized at the provincial and equivalent levels.
However, on October 22, 2024, Mr. Pham Ngoc Thuong - Deputy Minister of Education and Training signed and issued Official Dispatch 6800 on organizing the national science and technology competition for high school students in the 2024-2025 school year, with the following content:
“The participating units shall consult with competent authorities to approve the plan and budget for organizing the evaluation and selection of competition projects according to the project evaluation criteria specified in Appendix 2 of the Regulations... The evaluation and selection of student competition projects can be organized into a Competition or other plan suitable to the conditions of the locality and unit.”
Thus, although the Regulations issued with Circular 06/2024 do not have provisions on organizing provincial and grassroots level Competitions, the Official Dispatch of the Ministry of Education and Training has content guiding the participating units to be able to organize the Competition (provincial level and equivalent level).
It is known that up to now, many localities such as Ha Tinh, Dak Nong, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong ... have had documents to implement the Science and Technology Competition, some localities such as Nghe An have not had documents directing the implementation.
A representative of the Nghe An Department of Education and Training said that after receiving Official Dispatch 6800 from the Ministry of Education and Training, the Department is researching a reasonable and scientific implementation plan.
Mr. Duong Van Son - Principal of Kim Lien High School (Nghe An) said: "The school will comply with the direction of the Department of Education and Training in organizing the Science and Technology Competition".
On November 1, 2024, speaking with a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, lawyer Tran Hau Dinh (Hanoi Bar Association) said: Official dispatch 6800 dated October 22, 2024 of the Ministry of Education and Training is an individual document but contains instructions and regulations on the implementation of legal documents and has content contrary to the content of legal documents, which does not ensure the provisions of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents.
“Issuing the above document causes inconsistencies in the application of legal documents, which may lead to inconsistent consequences in the implementation of legal documents among localities and units (the participating units may or may not organize the Contest),” said lawyer Tran Hau Dinh.
Previously, Lao Dong Newspaper and many other press agencies had many articles reflecting on the shortcomings, negative signs, and fraud of the previous national science and technology research competition for high school students.
Some projects show signs of duplication, copying, adults doing projects on behalf of students; many projects are beyond the level of high school students and have no practical application.
Many online marketplaces have appeared on social networks, openly selling topics and projects to participate in scientific and technical research competitions. Many people have spoken out against the competition, requesting that it be canceled due to negative signs.
Following the above developments, the Ministry of Education and Training issued Circular 06/2024 promulgating the Regulations on the National Science and Technology Research Competition with many new contents.
