Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made this request during a meeting on 26/12, where he commended students who won international awards in 2025.
Vietnam is among the 21 nations that are on track to achieve the United Nations' 2030 sustainable development goal for quality education. For many consecutive years, Vietnam has ranked among the top 10 nations in international mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and informatics Olympiads.
In the previous academic year, all 37 students who participated in regional and international Olympiads earned awards, including 13 gold, 16 silver, and 8 bronze medals.
Several schools have become centers for "talent development", producing numerous award-winning students. These include High School for the Gifted, University of Science (Ho Chi Minh City), Ha Noi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, Quoc Hoc Hue High School, Lam Son High School (Thanh Hoa), and Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted (Nghe An).
The Prime Minister instructed the Ministry of Education and Training to collaborate with relevant agencies to develop a project for identifying and fostering young talents by Q1/2026. He emphasized the importance of creating breakthrough mechanisms and policies, particularly regarding incentives, tuition support, and scholarships for talented students. Additionally, he proposed encouraging a dual degree training mechanism and piloting accelerated learning and grade skipping programs, ensuring they align with practical realities.
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Translated caption: Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the ceremony honoring students who won awards at international competitions in 2025. Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac
According to the Education Law, intellectually advanced students are permitted to skip grades. However, such cases are rarely recorded in Vietnam.
Currently, Ha Noi National University and Ho Chi Minh City National University allow outstanding high school students (national and international award winners) to take university credits starting from grade 10. This can shorten the time to obtain a bachelor's degree by one to two years and provides early career orientation. However, the number of such students is small, and they still enter university at age 18. In contrast, in many other places, such as China, exceptional talents are admitted as early as ages 13 or 14.
Beyond piloting accelerated learning and grade skipping, the Prime Minister also called for focusing on developing strong high schools and universities to become the core of excellent and talent training networks in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields. Priority areas include: artificial intelligence, semiconductors, new materials, biotechnology, and social sciences and humanities.
He also proposed establishing specific policies to attract Vietnamese scientists and experts living abroad, as well as foreign professionals, to work in Vietnam. This initiative aims to boost international cooperation in teaching, training, and scientific research.
Duong Tam
