Teachers in the mountainous region of Nghe An volunteer to take poor students to night school

One November evening, the sky of Ky Son border district was pouring rain. After finishing a quick dinner, teacher Vi Thi Thuy - a teacher at Ta Ca Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities - put on a raincoat and hit the road. For Ms. Thuy, this has been a familiar task every week for the past 2 years. The distance of nearly 15 km from Huu Kiem commune to the school is not far but deserted, she tried to run as fast as possible to arrive early to be on time for the night school students. As soon as she parked her bike in the school yard, Ms. Thuy hurried to each student's house to take them to class.

“Many families are in difficult circumstances, the children live with the elderly, it is not convenient to travel at night so we have to take them to school. We know it is hard but if we do not do that, the children will not be able to study,” Ms. Thuy shared.

Mr. Nguyen Khac Linh - Principal of the school, said: In the 2024 - 2025 school year, the school has 234 students, of which 204 are from poor households (accounting for 87.2%). The number of poor students is high, but only 125 are boarders who have food and accommodation at school, the rest have to depend on their families. Due to difficult conditions, their parents had to leave their children with the elderly to go to work for companies in the South. Therefore, in order for the children to have someone to take care of them at night,The teachers volunteered to take turns taking the children to school..

“Most teachers live more than 10 km from the school, so when this plan was announced, many people were hesitant, but later, out of sympathy for the students’ situation, everyone volunteered to go to school to help them. After the 7-9 pm classes, the teachers stayed at the school to continue teaching the next morning,” said teacher Nguyen Khac Linh.

As a senior teacher (55 years old) of Ta Ca Primary Boarding School, for teacher Luong Thi Hoa, this job not only helps improve quality but also educates students on self-study. Therefore, although her house is 16 km from the school, she has never missed a shift.

Teacher Hoa said that her class has a student named Cut Thi Lap who lives in Nhan Ly village. Her father died 3 years ago in an accident, and her mother had to leave the village to work in Hai Phong. At home, Lap depends on her two older sisters who are in 8th and 12th grade. In previous years, due to difficult circumstances, it seemed that Lap would not be able to continue his studies, but thanks to the teachers' guidance, he has now become one of the best students in the class. This is also one of the students who have excelled in their studies thanks to the love of teachers who are working day and night to teach them, such as Ms. Hoa and Ms. Thuy.

“Thanks to the night classes, the quality of the students’ skills and general quality has been improved. The students are also more conscious of self-study and doing homework than before,” Mr. Nguyen Khac Linh - Principal of the school shared.

The sound of the school drum at night signals the end of the school day at 9pm. Teachers take turns taking students who live far away home to hand them over to their parents. They return to the lamp to continue working on their lesson plans for tomorrow's class. Although it is hard work, seeing the little students eagerly coming to school makes teachers happier than ever.