Opening of the House of Wisdom in Thanh Chuong
On the afternoon of November 10th, Thanh Ngoc Secondary School in Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province, held a ceremony to launch its "House of Wisdom".
This is the sixth "House of Wisdom" built at a school in Thanh Chuong district and the third in the junior high school category.
Attending the ceremony were Mr. Vo Van Mai - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An province; Mr. Trinh Van Nha, Chairman of the People's Committee of Thanh Chuong district; leaders of Thanh Ngoc commune; representatives of the Thanh Chuong Hometown Association in the Southern region; representatives of the Institute for Lifelong Learning, the House of Wisdom program and the Charitable Bookcase program; the principals of high schools, middle schools, and primary schools located in the area, and all teachers and students of the school.
The "House of Wisdom" at Thanh Ngoc Secondary School was established thanks to the support of the Thanh Chuong Hometown Association in the Southern region; the "Humanitarian Book Shelf" program, the "House of Wisdom" program, and Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung - a successful businessman from Thanh Chuong. The total value of the house is over 122 million VND, including 80 million VND in cash and a bookshelf system worth over 42 million VND.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Anh, Deputy Director of the Institute for Lifelong Learning, stated: "The construction and implementation over the past years in Thanh Chuong district have demonstrated the effectiveness and positive impact of the 'smart house' model in schools. These models have breathed new life into schools, full of creativity and flexibility, contributing to a harmonious complement to the formal education system."
Moreover, these intellectual centers, comprised of enthusiastic and dynamic young people, are becoming places that connect knowledge without borders. The intellectual centers at schools in Thanh Chuong regularly welcome professors, scholars, experts, lecturers, students, and even pupils from many localities across the country and from many countries around the world to teach, exchange, and share about culture and education… These activities help students improve their English communication skills, develop soft skills, and build a confident and open-minded global mindset.
Mr. Nguyen Hong Linh, General Secretary of the Thanh Chuong Hometown Association in the Southern region, said: "The Hometown Association is very impressed with the meaningful, effective, well-organized, professional, and sustainable activities of the two programs, 'House of Wisdom' and 'Compassionate Bookcase,' in Thanh Chuong, Nghe An province in particular and throughout the country in general over the past many years."
The Compassionate Bookcase and the House of Wisdom are two philanthropic programs in the fields of culture and education, focusing on creating, maintaining, and developing reading communities, promoting self-learning and lifelong learning completely free of charge. The programs have been awarded prizes and certificates of merit by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (2020) and the Minister of Education and Training (2024). In October 2023, the two programs were awarded the Literacy and Knowledge Dissemination Award by the U.S. Library of Congress in the "Excellent Practice" category.
To date, the Charitable Bookcase program has mobilized and donated over 25,000 bookshelves (containing over 1.5 million books) to more than 3,200 schools and communities across all 63 provinces and cities of Vietnam, as well as some provinces in Laos. The House of Wisdom program has established and maintained over 300 lifelong learning spaces in 17 provinces and cities of Vietnam and 5 other countries (Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the United States).
