Two brothers both won the title of excellent primary school teachers in the province.

Teacher Tran Van Chuong and teacher Tran Dinh Duong are two special candidates who have just participated in the 2022 Nghe An Province Excellent Primary School Teacher Contest, because they are two brothers, both teaching at Vo Liet Primary School (Thanh Chuong) and both recognized as excellent teachers at the provincial level.

The days of working for hire to support each other's education

Until now, although his father has passed away for more than 30 years, the obsession with teacher Tran Van Chuong still remains. He still remembers, that was a summer day, he was swimming in the river with his friends when he received the news that his father had passed away. The 8-year-old boy, at that time in grade 3, did not know what the pain of losing a father was. The same goes for his two younger siblings, one in grade 1, the other 4 years old, both still young.

It was not until some time later, when life became increasingly difficult for his mother and son, the small house in Vo Liet commune, lacking laughter and jokes, that his sisters began to feel this lack. Also because their father died early, their mother alone working in the fields did not have enough money to support their lives, so his older sister, who finished 9th grade, asked her mother to drop out of school to work for hire, helping her mother support her 3 younger siblings...

Two teachers, Tran Van Chuong and Tran Dinh Duong, lost their fathers at a young age. Their family circumstances were difficult. Photo: My Ha

Recalling the old days, teacher Tran Van Chuong said that in the 80s and 90s of the last century, many families fell into difficult circumstances. But his family's situation was more difficult, because the family had many children and his father died early. After finishing junior high school, he went to grade 10 at a school near his home. At that time, to have money for him to go to school, his younger brother Tran Dinh Duong went to school one day and chopped ash leaves the other day. At dawn, he cycled 4-5 kilometers to carry "chot" (ash leaves) to Phuong market to buy goods. Not only did he collect ash leaves, he also went to the forest to chop firewood. Collecting every day, the joy of the mother and children was to sell a shipment of firewood at the end of the month and the entire living expenses of the whole family depended on these shipments.

Nearly 5 years after graduating, Tran Van Chuong stayed in the city, working part-time to support his younger brother's education. Photo: My Ha

Due to family circumstances, in the early 2000s, after graduating from high school, while his friends were registering for universities in the South and the North, Mr. Chuong did not dare to think long-term. The "shortest" way for him and his family was to go to Vinh to register for a vocational school so that they could save some of the tuition, the travel costs were not too high, and they could return home on weekends to get rice.

Feeling sorry for his brother and afraid that he would drop out of school because he had no money, after graduating from high school, Tran Dinh Duong decided to take a year off from school. Instead, he went to Vinh to live with his brother and work for hire to earn money for him to go to school. Talking about this, Tran Dinh Duong added: "The place where my brother and I live is close to a road and bridge company, so every day they love me and let me work as a worker, paving the road. After finishing my work during the day, every afternoon I change into my work clothes and go to Vinh University to study for the university entrance exam"...

Due to family circumstances, brothers Tran Van Chuong and Tran Dinh Duong both chose to major in Pedagogy because they could study close to home and were exempted from tuition fees. Photo: My Ha

After a year of hard work, the day his brother graduated from Technical Pedagogical College 3 was also the day Tran Dinh Duong received the notice of admission to the Pedagogical College. At this time, instead of returning home to find a stable job, Mr. Chuong stayed in Vinh, working as a factory worker and doing short-term jobs such as typing to earn money for his brother to go to school.

Talking about this time, Mr. Chuong added: I studied IT, interviewed and was accepted for a probationary period by a famous advertising company in Vinh at that time. However, after asking carefully, I learned that in the first month, trainees do not receive a salary. Because I had no money and had been living day by day for a long time, I did not dare to accept this job. Being a worker may be harder, but we were paid every day, so we did not have to worry about not having enough food for the two of us.

Teacher Tran Van Chuong

The journey of raising each other of the two brothers Tran Van Chuong and Tran Dinh Duong lasted until 2005, because after graduating, Tran Dinh Duong received a decision to work at Muong Long 1 Primary School (Ky Son) to teach Fine Arts. Meanwhile, Chuong also had time to study, get a Pedagogical Certificate and apply to return to his hometown to teach IT at Vo Liet Primary School near his home.

Be a good teacher

There are many reasons why Tran Van Chuong and Tran Dinh Duong chose to become teachers. One of the main reasons is because of their mother. Sharing about this memory, Mr. Chuong said: In the past, when my family had workers come to repair the house, roof, or rebuild the fence, my mother took care of them. Then she said, you see, being a worker, having a profession, is always respected. You also try hard, be a worker, be a teacher to have a decent job, be loved by everyone.

Teacher Tran Van Chuong is currently both an IT teacher and the Team Leader at Vo Liet Primary School. Photo: My Ha

Remembering their mother's advice, teacher Tran Van Chuong and teacher Tran Dinh Duong always try their best in their work. As a young teacher, since taking up the job, whether as an IT teacher or as a Team Leader, he has always fulfilled his duties and is loved by his colleagues.

In the 2020-2021 school year, in anticipation of the implementation of new textbooks, Thanh Chuong district organized the Contest for the first time.Good teacherIn the subject of Information Technology, he was the only Information Technology teacher to register for the competition and was recognized as a District Excellent Teacher. In the 2021-2022 school year, he continued to compete for the second time and won the prize. With the results of 2 consecutive years of achieving the title of District Excellent Teacher, he is also 1 of 2 Information Technology teachers in Thanh Chuong district honored to be selected to compete for the Provincial Excellent Teacher in 2022.

For teacher Tran Dinh Duong, his journey as a teacher has had more ups and downs when he worked for 5 years in the border district of Ky Son and all of them were in remote schools far from the center. Currently, although he has been transferred to work near home at Vo Liet Primary School for 8 years, his wife is still working at Nam Can Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities. His eldest child also followed his mother to the highlands to live. Meanwhile, in the lowlands, he and his youngest son raise each other. Every half month, he goes back to visit his wife and children or his wife goes back to the lowlands... The scene of a couple being apart for a long time is unknown when it will end.

His wife works in Ky Son district, so Tran Dinh Duong and his son take care of themselves and do not know when the whole family will be able to live together again. Photo: My Ha

Take the exam to prove yourself

Vo Liet Primary School is a school with a long history of achievements in Thanh Chuong district. However, in the past 5 years, the school has only had 2 teachers recognized as excellent teachers of the province. Therefore, in 2022, the fact that the school has 2 teachers at the same time being sent to compete for excellent teachers of the province is an honor for the teachers and the school. What is more special is that both of them teach special subjects such as Fine Arts and Information Technology and are siblings.

Talking about her colleagues, teacher Pham Thi Anh Lan - Principal of the school said: When receiving the decision of the district, teachers Tran Van Chuong and Tran Dinh Duong were both worried and more or less under pressure. But I believe in the expertise of the two teachers and often encourage and motivate them to feel secure and complete their tasks.

Coming to the Provincial Excellent Teacher Competition, both of them also devoted themselves to both parts of the competition, which are the presentation of measures to improve teaching quality and the theoretical competition. In the solution competition, Mr. Chuong chose the content "Computer typing skills with 10 fingers" to help students be flexible when using computers and help them have fast, accurate computer typing skills and have an advantage when participating in online competitions organized by the Education sector and the Youth Union.

Meanwhile, teacher Tran Dinh Duong had many memories of the practical exam, an exam in which he decided to change the entire lesson plan at the last minute, but in the end received the response of the students, was highly appreciated by the judges and was finally awarded by the Education Trade Union as one of the teachers with the best achievements in the competition.

Sharing more about this part of the exam, Mr. Duong said: I caught the instruction for students to draw about soldiers. At first, I prepared the lesson for the same group of students as the school where I was working. But after 10 minutes of interacting with the students in Vinh city, I saw that they were very active and confident, and that night I changed my lesson plan. Instead of a passive teaching method, where the teacher guides the students, I switched to a flexible teaching method so that students could develop their abilities and express themselves. During the teaching process, there were many unexpected situations, but the students fulfilled the teacher's requirements well and they themselves helped me to excel and complete my exam well.

During the competition, teachers Tran Dinh Duong and Tran Van Chuong always received support from the school and students. Photo: My Ha

The fact that both brothers were recognized as excellent teachers also brought great joy to Vo Liet Primary School in the last days of the old year. For the two brothers, teachers Tran Van Chuong and Tran Dinh Duong, the contest was a memory, an unforgettable mark in their teaching journey.

Moreover, participating in the contest is a way for the teachers, two brothers, to prove their responsibility to their profession, to their students, and to the school where they work.

It is also a way for them to show gratitude to life, to show gratitude to their family...