'Teachers' village' on the upper Lam River

"Go out and meet the teacher"

In mid-November, we went upstream on the Lam River to find Mo village (Tam Quang commune, Tuong Duong district). These days, a bustling atmosphere has covered every corner of the village. The village chief, Mr. Le Van Vy (56 years old), is busy preparing for a ceremony to honor teachers in the village on the occasion of Vietnam Teachers' Day.

“This year we will do it big, even though we don’t have much money,” Mr. Vy boasted. Mr. Vy’s Mining Village is also known as the Coal Mining Village, but has long been called “teachers’ village” or “retired village” because many people receive pensions. However, the villagers still like to be called “teachers’ village” because it is their pride. The village currently has only 181 households, but 108 people are teachers. Of these, nearly 20 are managers, principals or vice principals of schools. There are schools like Tam Quang 1 Primary School, where both the principal and two vice principals are children of the Mining Village.

108 teachers is rare compared to villages in the lowlands, but for a remote highland village in Tuong Duong, it is truly a miracle. Because up here, the roads are difficult to travel, economic life is difficult, so it is good for children to grow up and learn to read and write. “108 is only counting those who currently have household registration in the village, not to mention many cases of children in the village who went to teach and then married elsewhere or those who graduated and were assigned to teach far from home and have now moved their household registration. If you count them all, it would be too many, too many. Almost every family has at least one person working as a teacher,” Mr. Vy said.

Mining Village is located on the left bank of Lam River. Photo: Tien Hung

Mr. Vy’s wife also works as a teacher and is currently the vice principal of a primary school near their home. When we arrived, Mr. Vy was making a guest list and preparing gifts for the upcoming gratitude party. For many years, every November 20, Mo village has organized such parties. This year, the village plans to allocate funds to award teachers who are good at teaching at the provincial level. “Only award teachers who are good at teaching at the provincial level, because there are too many at the district level, the village does not have enough funds. As for the party, the families also contribute,” Mr. Vy added.

The hardships of teaching in the highlands

The Mining Village is located on the left bank of the Lam River, leaning against a towering mountain range. It is called the Mining Village because it is only about 2km from the only coal mine in Nghe An province. This coal mine has large reserves, exploited since the anti-French period until now. In the 70s of the last century, the coal mining enterprise was invested in systematically, the number of workers increased rapidly, at times up to 700 people. Most of the workers came from the lowland districts, so each time they returned home, they had to travel hundreds of kilometers. The roads were difficult to travel, sometimes they had to walk for a whole week to get home. Therefore, to be close to their families, many workers brought their wives and children from their hometowns and built houses on the riverbank to live. Many workers, after retiring, because they were used to the life in the mountains, also decided to stay. Just like that, the Mining Village was gradually formed.

By 1985, the Mining Village was officially established, with about 50 households. Mr. Phan Van Dat (74 years old) was one of the first 50 households in the village. Mr. Dat and his wife moved from Do Luong to settle here in 1983. They have 5 daughters, all of whom are now teachers. Including his son-in-law, Mr. Dat has 6 children who chose to pursue a writing career. In Mining Village, families with up to 6 children who are teachers like Mr. Dat are not rare, even some families have up to 8 people. Here, it seems that the first generation are all officials or coal miners. The second generation is mostly oriented by their parents to become teachers.

“Although we were state workers, our salaries were very low, not enough to support our families. Parents worked hard all day in the coal mines, so everyone wanted their children to escape that situation. That’s why, despite the hardship, we still invested in and encouraged our children to study hard. We oriented our children to become teachers because we thought that writing was not as hard as working in coal mines, and was respected,” Mr. Dat said about the reason for sending his children to study pedagogy.

Mr. Dat has 5 daughters, all of whom are teachers. Photo: Tien Hung

Since Tam Quang Bridge was built more than 10 years ago, the travel of the people of Mo village has become much more convenient. Previously, because it was isolated on the other side of Lam River, the way to school for the children of Mo village was very difficult. “My children had to go to school by boat. In those days, the boat capsized constantly. Luckily, the children in the village were used to the river from a young age, so everyone knew how to swim. Many days when the boat was late, it was common for the children to take off their clothes, carry their backpacks on their heads and swim across the river,” Mr. Dat added.

Not only was it difficult to travel, but at that time, having money to send their children to school was also a difficult problem for the residents of the Mining Village. Because the workers' salaries were too low and they had no fields, they had to work hard to earn a living. To make ends meet, the workers took advantage of their days off to go to the forest to collect firewood and pick bamboo shoots to sell. They worked hard doing all kinds of jobs, with the desire for their children to be educated properly. "There was a time when my family had 3 daughters studying at university in Vinh. Every time my daughter told me she had run out of money, my husband and I were shocked. At that time, we had to borrow money from the whole village. Looking back now, I still can't understand how we were able to hold on," Mr. Dat said.

Investing in his children to become teachers with the hope of escaping the hard life of their parents working in the mines, but Mr. Dat, like many others in the village, did not expect that when his children graduated, the job of a teacher in the mountainous district of Tuong Duong would be even more difficult and arduous than working in the mines. Mr. Dat's 49-year-old daughter, after graduating this year, was assigned to teach in the district, but nearly 100km from home. There was no means of transportation, the roads were difficult, every time they had to go to school, they had to walk. Meanwhile, the teacher's salary was even lower than that of a mine worker. At first, although he was a bit disappointed, Mr. Dat gradually oriented his later children to become teachers. Because he believed that, after all, it was a noble profession, respected by society.

Mr. Hoan's family also has 8 sisters pursuing the teaching profession. Photo: Tien Hung

A few hundred meters from Mr. Dat's house is the house of Mr. Nguyen Hong Hoan (52 years old). Mr. Hoan is the Principal of Tam Quang 1 Primary School, and his wife is the Vice Principal of Tam Quang 2 Primary School. Mr. Hoan's family also has 5 siblings pursuing the teaching profession, including his wife and son-in-law, making 8 people. In addition, the next generation also has 5 people working as teachers. Not to mention, Mr. Hoan's son is also studying at a teacher training college in Hanoi.

Mr. Hoan's extended family at the meeting and exchange ceremony of the Mining village on the occasion of Vietnam Teachers' Day. Photo: NVCC

“My father came here from Nam Dan to work as a miner and then brought the whole family here to live. My sisters and I were the first people from the Mining Village to become teachers. At first, my parents wanted their children to have an easier job. But they didn’t expect that teaching in the highlands would be even more difficult,” said Mr. Hoan. Although he has been teaching for 30 years, this is the first year he has been able to work in the commune.

In 1992, after graduating, Mr. Hoan was assigned to teach in Luan Mai commune (now abolished because of the Ban Ve hydroelectric reservoir), although it was in the same district as Tuong Duong, but the roads were extremely difficult to travel. Mr. Hoan recalled that in those years, it took about 4 days to get to school. There were times when the ferry was unfortunately late, and the journey took a whole week. Therefore, each year he only dared to go home during Tet and summer vacation. While his salary was very meager, it was just enough to cover expenses. “It’s a little better now, but in the past, teaching in the highlands was very difficult. However, the children of the Min village did not hesitate to follow the teaching profession. We are very proud of that,” Mr. Hoan said.

The Mining Village currently has 181 households. Photo: Tien Hung

Ms. Kha Thi Hien - Chairman of Tam Quang Commune People's Committee said that the whole commune has more than 8,000 people, 78% of whom are Thai people. The commune reached the new rural area in 2017, the second commune in the district to reach the goal. This is also the first border commune in Nghe An to reach the new rural area. The whole commune currently has 311 teachers still working, not to mention a large number who have retired or moved elsewhere. Among them, Mo village accounts for the largest number. "The meager salary makes the life of teachers in this mountainous area still very difficult. However, what makes teachers in this mountainous area always feel happy is that they have accepted and overcome difficulties to spread knowledge and bring knowledge to students in remote areas," Ms. Hien said.