On the morning of March 24, 2023, more than 600 students from primary schools, secondary schools, and high schools in Ho Chi Minh City participated in the 2022 Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Certificate Award Ceremony organized by EMG Education Group.

The certificates awarded covered various educational levels, including International Primary iPrimary, International Lower Secondary iLowerSecondary, and International GCSE.

Speaking at the award ceremony, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, Nguyễn Bảo Quốc, stated that in recent years, Ho Chi Minh City has always strived to become a dynamic city, leading the country in many areas, including improving the quality of education to meet the needs of societal development.

Among these efforts, enhancing students' English proficiency and implementing the teaching of Math and Science subjects in English according to international curriculum standards, with internationally recognized certification as the desired outcome, is one of the key goals of the education sector.

In Ho Chi Minh City, starting from the 2014-2015 academic year, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee approved the project "Teaching and learning Math, Science, and English integrated with the national curriculum of the UK and Vietnam" in public schools (referred to as the integrated English program).

Furthermore, since 2015, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training has signed a cooperation agreement with the Pearson Edexcel Examination Board – the largest examination board in the UK – to officially recognize the Pearson Edexcel standard as the graduation requirement for the program.

Accordingly, after completing the levels of primary, secondary, and high school, students achieve the required skills and knowledge according to the integrated UK national curriculum and the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training curriculum, and they take exams to earn certificates widely recognized worldwide.

Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, Nguyễn Bảo Quốc (on the right) presents a certificate of merit to a student who achieved excellent results in the Pearson Edexcel certification exam. Photo: EMG Education

The Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training particularly praised the efforts and achievements of the city's students, recognizing their hard work, determination, and commitment to learning.

"Regardless of the results of the exam, with the practical knowledge and skills that you have learned in the program, I believe your future will be filled with success and many opportunities to integrate into the world," said Nguyễn Bảo Quốc.

This year, Pearson Edexcel certificates were awarded to students in grades 5, 9, and 11 who participated in the integrated English program for the 2021-2022 academic year, under the project "Teaching and learning Math, Science, and English integrated with the national curriculum of the UK and Vietnam" in public schools across Ho Chi Minh City.

In the Math subject, 100% of students achieved the "Pass" level or higher in all three levels: primary, secondary, and high school.

For the two subjects of English and Science, more than 80% of primary school students achieved the "Pass" level or higher, over 98% of students passed Science, and 92% passed English in secondary school.

At the high school level, the percentage of students who achieved the "Excellent" grade (7-9, with 9 being the highest score on the global Pearson Edexcel scale) in Math was 82%, significantly higher than the global average of 59% for Math students.

Deputy Head of the Office of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, Vũ Thị Huỳnh Mai (on the far right), presents a certificate of merit to a student who achieved excellent results in the Pearson Edexcel certification exam. Photo: EMG Education

Huỳnh Hà Mi is the candidate who achieved a perfect score in all three subjects in the International GCSE International Baccalaureate certificate exam. Photo: Reporter Thu Tâm

"To prepare for the exam, I combined the knowledge learned from textbooks and practical experiments to better understand the principles of Math and Science. Applying what I've learned to real-life situations has helped me develop critical thinking and reasoning skills, rather than just memorizing the knowledge from the textbooks," Hà Mi shared.

A representative from Pearson, Mr. David Albon, Director of International Programs and Examinations, highly praised the achievements of Vietnamese students.

"Pearson Edexcel certificates will open many learning and personal development opportunities for students in various fields. To achieve these certificates, students have dedicated a lot of time and effort. They not only need to have good discipline and solid knowledge but also develop higher-level thinking skills," Mr. David Albon stated.

Source: Thu Tâm – Saigon Giai Phong Newspaper