Part II: The highlands are difficult, but the lowlands have something to offer.
Five years ago, the Education Department of Nghe An province was the first unit nationwide to implement the "Department helping department, school helping school" program, which later developed into "subject helping subject".
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My Ha - Tien Hung• April 12, 2025
Five years ago, the Nghe An Department of Education was the first in the country to implement the "Department helping department, school helping school" program, which later expanded to "subject helping subject." Besides providing material support and school equipment, this year the education and training departments are also joining forces to help mountainous districts solve the difficult problem of a shortage of English teachers at the primary school level. Behind these classrooms lies the dedication and aspirations of the teachers to ensure that "no student is left behind."
“I also have to learn with the students,” said Ms. Ngan Thi Trang (homeroom teacher of class 1A) at Tam Quang 2 Primary School, after nearly a month of taking on her new role as an “assistant” to a first-grade English class. The class is taught online by Ms. Ho Thi Huyen Trang (English teacher at Dang Son Primary School – Do Luong).
Because the class is conducted via Zoom, before class starts, Ms. Ngan Thi Trang arrives early to turn on her computer, enter the Zoom room, and check the internet connection. During class, while Ms. Trang is lecturing, teachers at the Tam Quang school will assist students by answering questions and checking their assignments. After each lesson, teachers from both schools will interact, exchange ideas, and finalize the lesson content. Due to the small class size and the image being transmitted via television, even though it's a live class without a blackboard and chalk, students don't have too much difficulty understanding the lecture.
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Previously, Tam Quang Primary School (Tuong Duong district) had 303 students, divided into two campuses located in So and Tung Huong villages. For the past two years, due to a widespread shortage of English teachers in many schools in Tuong Duong district, one teacher from the school has been seconded to Tam Dinh Primary School. The remaining teacher is teaching across schools and accepts teaching 7 extra lessons per week to ensure that all students in grades 3, 4, and 5 learn English according to the 2018 General Education Program. For students in grades 1 and 2, getting acquainted with English early is an "unavoidable" requirement.
Located nearly 150km from Tuong Duong, teacher Ho Thi Huyen Trang (a teacher at Dang Son Primary School) admits she had never been to this mountainous district, only knowing about it through television. Nevertheless, when the Do Luong District Department of Education and Training launched the program "department helping department, school helping school, subject helping subject," she readily accepted the job.
According to the assigned schedule, every Wednesday afternoon she will teach two lessons to students at the main campus of Tam Quang 2 Primary School. In addition, the class will also be connected to a satellite school in Tung Huong village – a border village 12km away from the main campus.
At Yen Hoa Ethnic Boarding Primary School, teacher Nguyen Thi Minh Hien (Thinh Son Primary School - Do Luong) said she was very happy to have been with first-grade students for more than two months. Previously, when the program was first implemented, Ms. Hien was also the first teacher to conduct a model lesson for the teachers in Do Luong district to review and adjust teaching methods accordingly.
I've been teaching for over 10 years and have taught many model lessons, but online lessons with students in mountainous areas still leave a very special feeling. Perhaps, compared to in-person teaching, online teaching presents more challenges. But what makes us happiest is seeing the students after each lesson, enthusiastically participating and looking forward to the next lesson.”
Teacher Nguyen Thi Minh Hien (Thinh Son Primary School - Do Luong)
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"All for our beloved students" is the slogan put forth by the Department of Education and Training of Do Luong District in its plan to coordinate and support English language teaching for first and second graders in Tuong Duong District. Specifically, each primary school in Tuong Duong District will have one to two teachers from Do Luong District assisting first and second graders, and this will continue until the end of the school year. The timetables will be proactively arranged by the schools in coordination with each other.
Sharing more about the implementation process, Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Quy - in charge of English at the Department of Education and Training of Do Luong district - said that when they started the program, they asked schools in Tuong Duong district to conduct a survey, and the answer was always "nothing has been done yet."
“Indeed, receiving these results, while not surprising, made us all feel very sorry for the students in the mountainous regions. That's also why, when the plan was implemented, all schools and all teachers responded and participated voluntarily. After a short period of implementation, we were very happy to receive positive feedback, and the teachers are also ready to work alongside the schools not only this school year but also for many years to come,” Ms. Quy said.
On the last day of March, we arrived at Pha Danh Ethnic Boarding Primary School (Ky Son District). Although the online English class for 3rd graders officially started at 2 PM, Ms. Vo Thi Thuong, the homeroom teacher of class 3B, and the other teachers from the school's management board were already present in the classroom half an hour earlier. Carefully opening their computers to find the Zoom meeting link, they found that the connection in this mountainous area was constantly interrupted. "The signal isn't strong here, and it's often faulty, so we have to come early to prepare," Ms. Thuong said with a smile.
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After a few minutes of fumbling around, the teachers at Pha Danh kept calling to contact Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai, who was at Dien Lam 2 Primary School (Dien Chau district), nearly 250km away... The screen flickered; sometimes the teacher's voice was audible but not visible, sometimes she was there but no sound, and sometimes the screen was upside down... It took more than 15 minutes to establish the connection. By then, the students of classes 3A and 3B had just woken up and were about to begin their afternoon lesson. Knowing it was English class and that they would be learning with teachers from the lowlands, the highland students all showed clear excitement...
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai is one of the pioneering teachers in Dien Chau district participating in the "department helping department, school helping school, subject helping subject" program implemented by the Dien Chau District Department of Education and Training.
Registering to teach 3rd grade, Ms. Hoai said that this is an experience she has never had before in her many years of teaching, because her students are not only from Pha Danh Ethnic Boarding Primary School but are also connected with all other primary schools throughout Ky Son district through Zoom classrooms. Accompanying Ms. Hoai will be the homeroom teachers from the main school locations.
To facilitate teaching and learning, students from all grade levels are grouped together in one classroom at each school. Therefore, although there are called 14 connection points, the number of students in each classroom has been doubled or tripled, creating a "giant" classroom.
Previously, before the "department helping department, school helping school, specialized department supporting specialized department" program was implemented, the development of the curriculum, teacher allocation, and scheduling of classes were carefully considered by the Education and Training Departments of Dien Chau and Ky Son districts.
A unique feature of primary schools in Ky Son is that all students attend school on a half-day basis, meaning most children spend the entire day studying and living at school, which is quite convenient for scheduling.
In contrast, schools in Dien Chau district have two sessions per day, and English teachers' schedules can be interspersed between morning and afternoon sessions. Many teachers are having to teach at multiple schools due to a shortage of English teachers throughout the district.
The final option was to hold the meeting on Wednesday afternoon, the only day of the week when teachers in Dien Chau district are off from teaching their scheduled professional classes.
This means that teachers participating in the English teaching program will have a full schedule throughout the week, and they have to take on extra work outside of working hours. In the first year of the program's implementation, 27 teachers from Dien Chau district participated, all of whom were key English teachers with experience as outstanding teachers at the district and provincial levels, and they volunteered to participate.
Ms. Dang Thi Anh Nguyet, a teacher at Dien Phuc Primary School, currently teaches at two schools and also serves as the head of the school's youth organization. Despite this, as a core teacher, she still volunteers to teach extra classes for students in Ky Son. Ms. Nguyet said: "I anticipated the difficulties of teaching students in their final year because they hadn't received formal English instruction from grades 1 to 4. Therefore, although we're teaching grade 5, we're practically 'starting from scratch'."
Mr. Tran Nam Trung, Deputy Head of the Education and Training Department of Dien Chau District, said that when the Education sector implemented the movement "Department helping department, school helping school, professional team helping professional team," the unit carefully considered and selected content that was appropriate and practical.
Based on our observations in Ky Son district, the biggest challenge is organizing English language teaching. From the education sector's perspective, implementing online teaching raised many concerns due to its direct impact on infrastructure, teaching staff, and students. What surprised us was that as soon as the idea was proposed, all teachers supported it and volunteered to teach online.”
Mr. Tran Nam Trung – Deputy Head of the Education and Training Department of Dien Chau District
Speaking with Nghe An Newspaper, teachers Huyen Trang, Minh Hien, Nguyen Hoai, and many others shared that the more they teach and interact with students in mountainous areas, the more they care for their students. Therefore, in addition to teaching online, they are willing to take time off during the summer to go to the highlands to meet the students and teachers, and provide free in-person tutoring throughout the summer.
(To be continued)
