Đặng Thị Hồng Trang (left), who scored top marks in Literature, and Nguyễn Thị Hương (right), one of the country’s three highest scorers for Literature, History and Geography,  with their teacher at Mỹ Tho High School. —Photo xaluan.com

NAM ĐỊNH — Mỹ Tho High School is only a small local school in Ý Yên District, Nam Định Province but it has produced some of the top scorers of this year’s national high school exam.

Nguyễn Thị Hương was one of the country’s three highest scorers for Literature, History and Geography.

Hương scored a total of 29.25 points in the three subjects with a perfect score (10) for Geography, 9.5 for Literature and 9.75 for History.

Hailing from a poor family in Yên Phú Commune, Hương, as the first daughter of the family, has to balance her time between homework and housework.

She also has to look after two sisters, especially when her parents were in Hà Nội searching for work at the start of this year due to the impacts of COVID-19. Despite all this, she has never lost her will to learn.

Phạm Thị Liên, Hương’s mother, said: “We burst into tears when we found out about daughter’s exam results and immediately returned home to congratulate her.”

“Hương knows our family lives in poor conditions so she never asks for anything she doesn't need,” Liên told Vietnam News Agency.

Hương’s corner where she studies does not even have a bookshelf but it is covered by certificates for her academic achievements.

Hương said she was used to borrowing books from the school library or her friends and returning them when she had finished studying.

Not many people know that she nurtured a love for science from an early age, especially Math, but then decided to follow social sciences.

“Since entering high school, I decided to focus on Literature, History and Geography because those subjects equip me with a deep understanding about positive values in our lives and help me have a comprehensive view at the relations between the past, the present and the future as well as at the events happening around us.”

Hương has had a lot of success during her three years at high school and at the national high school exams thanks to her serious attitude towards the targets she sets for herself.

Her study tips are to listen to teachers in class, review the lectures at home and exchange knowledge with teachers and classmates.

“I often make a mind map for each subject to have a general view. Then from the main ideas, I develop into smaller ideas to dig into the lessons and to not only learn by heart but understand them well.

“I also take sample tests to practice my skills and remember what I have learnt.”

“I didn't study too much or put pressure on myself. I did not stay up late to study.

“I studied little by little day by day and did not skip lessons to make sure I understood everything. Thanks to that, I felt calm and confident before each exam.”

Nguyễn Thị Hiên, Hương’s teacher, said Hương was a special student with a logical mind and creative studying methods. She answered questions very quickly and always connected the lessons with reality.

Perfect Literature score

Mỹ Tho High School is also proud to have a student who scored 10 points in Literature this year, a rare score for this subject.

However, Đặng Thị Hồng Trang did not surprise her teachers or classmates with her result.

Trang is assessed to be an excellent essay writer with coherent and sharp arguments. In her essays to analyse literary works, Trang always puts the characters in the context of the specific society they are living in to look into the humane value of the works.

Trang said: “Scores are only one part of the study progress. I will keep reading my favourite literary works and spend time learning more because studying is an endless process.”

In Trang's class, 25 out of 37 students scored more than nine points for Literature this year.

Their teacher Phạm Thị Kiều Oanh said in addition to logical teaching methods that train students to write essays, teachers must also inspire passion in students to help them immerse themselves in the lesson, thereby arousing their love for the subject. 

“Many people think that a perfect score in a Literature test never happens. But Literature, like all other subjects, has answers and marking instructions. So why can’t students get a perfect score when they can satisfy all the ideas in the answer, and even have more creative ideas?” Oanh said.

The teachers at Mỹ Tho High School are constantly innovating their teaching methods to encourage students to learn and improve education quality.

Hà Xuân Sơn, the school principal, said the quality of teaching at the school had significantly improved over the past ten years.

The number of excellent students and students entering universities and colleges in recent years has been increasing. The school has also recently had top scorers in Math, Chemistry and Biology, he said. — VNS