| Chu Van An National High School | |
| Native Name: | Trường Trung học Phổ thông Quốc gia Chu Văn An |
| Motto: | Yêu nước – Cách mạng – Dạy tốt – Học giỏi (Patriotic – Revolutionary – Good Teaching – Good Studying) |
| Type: | Public |
| Former Names: | Collège du Protectorat/Trường Thành chung Bảo hộ (1908–1931) Lycée du Protectorat/Trường Trung học Bảo hộ (1931–1945) |
| Category: | National High School |
| Principal: | Nguyễn Thị Nhiếp |
| Head Name: | Second Master |
| Head Name2: | Assistant Headmaster |
| Established: | 1908 |
| Faculty: | 135[1] |
| Enrollment: | approx. 2,000 (2007/2008) |
| Grades: | Year 10 – Year 12 |
| Streetaddress: | 10 Thuy Khue Street, Tay Ho |
| City: | Hanoi |
| Country: | Vietnam |
| District: | Ba Dinh-Tay Ho |
| Colours: | Light blue |
| Student Union: | Đoàn trường THPT Chu Văn An |
| Nickname: | Trường Bưởi (lit. Pomelo School) |
| Free Label: | Emblem |
| Website: | http://c3chuvanan.edu.vn/ |
Chu Van An High School (Vietnamese: Trường Trung học phổ thông Quốc gia Chu Văn An), also known as Chu Van An National School or Pomelo School (trường Bưởi, before 1945) one of the three national high schools for the gifted in Vietnam along with Quoc Hoc High School in Huế and Le Hong Phong High School in Ho Chi Minh City. It is also one of the four magnet high schools in Hanoi, Vietnam, along with Hanoi-Amsterdam High School, Son Tay High School and Nguyen Hue High School. Established by the French authorities in 1908 as College of the Protectorate (French: Collège du Protectorat), Chu Van An is one of the oldest institutions for secondary education in Southeast Asia. Despite initially intending to train native civil servants to serve the French colonial establishments, Vietnamese students at Bưởi school often struggled against colonial doctrine. A lot of Bưởi alumni became renowned political leaders and cultural figures in many areas of Vietnamese society such as Nguyễn Văn Cừ – the fourth general secretary of Communist Party of Vietnam, Phạm Văn Đồng – the first prime minister of North Vietnam and united Vietnam, Nguyễn Cao Kỳ- former vice president and prime minister of South Vietnam, Kaysone Phomvihane- former leader of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, Prince Souphanouvong- the first president of Laos.
In 1945, Lycée du Protectorat was renamed to Chu Van An High School.
On 12 December 1908, the Governor-General of Indochina Antony Wladislas Klobukowski made the decision to establish Collège du Protectorat (College of the Protectorate, similar to the secondary school) based on the merger of the Thông ngôn Bờ sông school, the Jules Ferry Nam Dinh secondary school and the pedagogy class (Cours normal) on Pottier street. In 1931, the school was upgraded to a lycée (similar to the high school) – Lycée du Protectorat (The school of Protectorate). Since the school was built on the land of Thuy Khuê village, Kẻ Bưởi, people often called it Bưởi School.
By 1943, the school had to move to the Phúc Nhạc monastery in Ninh Bình. In 1945, they returned to Hà Nội. After Japan overthrew France, on 12 June 1945, the northern king's special envoy Phan Kế Toại decided to change the school's name to Chu Van An – named after the most well-respected teacher in Vietnamese history Chu Văn An, and appointed professor Nguyễn Gia Tường to the principal position. Tường was the first Vietnamese principal of the Bưởi – Chu Văn An High School.
From 1970 to 1993, the school used to share facilities with Ba Dinh High School, when a school would teach in the morning, while the other would teach in the afternoon. Two have merged since January 1993.
On 17 February 1995, along with Quoc Hoc High School in Hue and Le Hong Phong High School in Ho Chi Minh City, Chu Van An High School has been planned and constructed by Prime Minister Võ Văn Kiệt to become one of three national high schools in Vietnam.
On 6 November 2004, Chu Van An High School was certified as a national historical relic.
Since 2019, Chu Van An High School has been the first school in Hanoi and Vietnam to be a member of the Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) organization, making it eligible to train students under the dual degree programme (Vietnamese National Diploma & Cambridge International A-Level).[2]
As one of the four high schools for gifted students in Hanoi (together with Hanoi - Amsterdam High School, Son Tay High School and Nguyen Hue High School for the Gifted), Chu Van An High School is highly selective in its admission process. Every year, the school receives over 3000 applications from Hanoi and other Northern Vietnamese provinces to Thanh Hoa, out of which only 500 to 600 would be admitted. For the 2023–2024 school year, the overall admission rate into specialized classes of Chu Van An High School is about 10.9%. Applicants are required to take an entrance exam conducted by the Hanoi Department of Education and Training. This examination usually takes place around mid-June with three subjects – Mathematics, Literature and English, and one additional subject for students who want to be admitted in specialized classes.
Applicants who prefer to be trained under the dual degree programme, along with taking the entrance exam will also have to take other exams in English such as Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and English (Writing & Speaking skills) to be admitted in dual degree classes.[3]
Until the academic year of 2007/2008, Chu Van An High School had over 2.000 students from Grade 10 to Grade 12. In the same academic year, Chu Van An High School became the first school in Hanoi to have a Japanese language class, with the help of the Ministry of Education and Training and the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam.[4]
The class system of Chu Van An High School includes 16 specialised classes: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Japanese, French, IT, Biology 1, Biology 2, Literature 1, Literature 2, History 1, History 2, Geography 1, Geography 2, English 1 and English 2; two dual degree classes (I1, I2); two French bilingual classes which are sponsored and trained by staffs from the Association of Francophone Universities; and five normal classes divided into two groups which represent for the Vietnamese college entrance exam blocks: Group A (A1, A2, A3) and Group D (D1, D2).[5]
In 2023, Principal Nguyen Thi Nhiep proposed to the Hanoi Department of Education and Training to turn Chu Van An High School into a high school only for the gifteds.[6]
Chu Van An High School currently has 1 campus, which lies next to West Lake between Nguyễn Đình Thi Road and Thụy Khuê Street.
| Time | Principal | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1914–1918 | Muss | ||
| 1925–1926 | Lombriger | ||
| 1936–1939 | Léon Autigeon | ||
| 1940–1945 | Perruca | ||
| 1944–1945 | Dizes | Director of the campus which fled to Phú Nhạc | |
| 6/1945-8/1945 | Nguyễn Gia Tường | First Vietnamese principal | |
| 8/1945-9/1945 | Dương Quảng Hàm | ||
| 1948–1951 | Phạm Xuân Độ | Principal of Chu Van An in French-occupied Hanoi. | |
| 1951–1953 | Vũ Ngô Xán | Principal of Chu Van An in French-occupied Hanoi. | |
| 1953–1954 | Mai Phương | Principal of Chu Van An in French-occupied Hanoi. | |
| 1945–1954 | Trần Văn Khang | Principal of Chu Van An in Dao Gia, governed by Viet Minh | |
| 1954–1958 | Phạm Quang Hiếu | ||
| 1958–1965 | Hoàng Hùng | ||
| 1965–1968 | Hoàng Xuân Hoài | ||
| 1985–1990 | Nguyễn Đức Lưu | ||
| 1984–1990 | Vũ Thái Bình | ||
| 1990–1993 | Trần Thúy Lan | ||
| 1993–1997 | Phạm Đình Đậu | ||
| 1997–2008 | Đinh Sĩ Đại | ||
| 2008–2014 | Chử Xuân Dũng | ||
| 2014–2021 | Lê Mai Anh | ||
| 2022-now | Nguyễn Thị Nhiếp | ||
| Source: Chu Van An High School's Traditional Room | |||
From teaching and training achievements throughout the school's existence, the Government of Vietnam has awarded the school with:[7]