A day with teachers and students of Thin village

(Baonghean) -About Thin village, the common name of team 3 Khe Moi village (Luc Da commune - Con Cuong), I heard the village chief Vi Van Tien excitedly announce: "The village now has people in secondary school". I was both surprised and happy because for nearly 25 years, since the day the first household came to live here and established the village, this is only the second school year that Thin village has had people with such high education. It is strange because this small hamlet is not too far away.

The first time I came to Thin village at the end of 2009, at that time, the highest educated people in this Dan Lai village were only about a dozen students in grade 5. Having such a "level" was also because the village had a primary school, otherwise, studying up to grade 5 would have been a big problem, because to get to the commune center, this mountain hamlet had only one way, which was to walk over the mountain about 8 kilometers. And to get to the "center" of the village, one had to go downhill 3 kilometers. So isn't it a miracle that students in Thin village have gone to secondary school?

Mr. Tien explained to me that for the past two school years, the students of Thin village have been fed and educated outside of school by their teachers, which is why they have had the opportunity to study. His words reminded me of an article I wrote last year about Dan Lai students in Thin village who were given their dormitory rooms by teachers at Luc Da Secondary School so that they could study. Now that the teachers are also feeding them, the students are very happy and just want to stay outside of school.

I immediately drove to visit the school again. The principal was away. Vice principal Trinh Dang Khoa took me to visit the dormitory of the boarding students. Among the students was La Van Man, a 7th grader who still remembered me. He pulled me into the room and boasted: "We just got a new iron bed, uncle. The blankets and uniforms were also newly bought." Just last school year, 8-10 students had to share a bed, but now each student has their own bed with their name written on it, neat and orderly. Teacher Luong Thi Huyen said: "I haven't paid for this bed and blanket yet. The principal bought it on credit. I don't know if they'll come to collect the debt this Tet." And teacher Khoa said: "The teachers in the school also donated money, but it's still not enough because the money to buy all those facilities is worth tens of millions of dong. But I'm happy to keep Dan Lai students here to study" ...

I suddenly remembered the story told by English teacher Luu Thanh Bang: In previous years, every weekend the principal would set up a team to go to Thin village to persuade parents to let their children go to 6th grade. People usually had to go at night because during the day most of the villagers were in the forest picking bamboo shoots and looking for roots. Many parents did not remember exactly how old their children were, they only remembered: "My wife gave birth to him five years ago on a hill on the other side". Then, after dozens of trips back to the village to persuade, now there are 11 students who are willing to come to class. Convincing parents to let their children go to school is difficult, keeping them is equally difficult, so it requires determination and sacrifice from the teachers for their students.

Teacher Luu Thanh Bang instructs students in English

So every day, outside of class time, the teachers became the students' "nanny": taking care of everything from food to laundry until they got used to learning to be independent. In addition, the teachers also taught the students how to grow vegetables to improve their meals. The teachers taught the students to wake up on time and stop sleeping in. The teachers who stayed in the dormitory also took on the role of student supervisors.

Compared to schools with many boarding students, the teachers of Luc Da School have less trouble taking care of more than a dozen Dan Lai students. Teacher Luu Thanh Bang said: "Our school has few boarding students, like a family with few children, so we have the means to take care of each child." But it seems that the determination to mobilize all students of the right age in Thin village to enter 6th grade is very difficult. In the last school year, there were still 2 male students who dropped out of school. In the end, it was because their parents did not care much about their children's studies, even though these students did not study badly and also liked going to class. The day the teachers went to the village to advise the students to return to class, there was a student named Thin who was in the middle of 6th grade and his parents forced him to drop out. When the mobilization group left, the student kept standing in front of the door looking after him, it seemed like he really wanted to go to school. His parents needed him to stay home to look after his younger sibling, and when he grew up a little more, he would go to the forest to gather food because now no one had any land left to cultivate.

Boarding students of Luc Da Secondary School with housework

Mr. Bang's house is more than 30 kilometers away from the school. So it's not too far, but since Dan Lai's arrival, he has volunteered to stay and tutor the students in English. The teachers who live near the school each take advantage of the evening to give extra tutoring to the students.

That night I stayed to “visit” Mr. Thanh Bang and tried out the empty iron bed of student Thin. With a clean blanket and mattress, I had a good night’s sleep without dreams, but there were still students who skipped school. At 5 a.m., students La Van Man and La Van Em, who were in the bed next to me, got up and turned on the light to study in the morning. The female students in the next room got up to sweep the yard and wash the dishes. So a new day for the Dan Lai boarding students at Luc Da Secondary School began. I called the Principal to say goodbye and asked about the school’s efforts to soon reach national standards. The Principal smiled: “National standards are also important, and keeping the students of Thin village at the school is equally important.”

Article and photos: Huu Vi