The Silent Ferryman

(Baonghean) - The teaching profession is likened to the boatmen who carry knowledge to students. Without the silent sacrifices of teachers, there would be no successful engineers, doctors, scientists, businessmen... every November, we remember those who have given wings to our dreams...

Associate Professor Le Thi Ha - A shining example in the education sector

Ms. Ha's family (Principal of Phuc Son Primary School, Anh Son) has many siblings. When she was 15 years old, while her 3 older brothers were in the army, her father passed away, and her youngest brother was only 4 months old. After finishing 7th grade, she had to drop out of school to help her mother with housework and raise her younger siblings.

Ms. Le Thi Ha at the ceremony to award the title of Excellent Teacher.

Although she had to drop out of school to work, Ms. Ha was determined to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher. In addition to helping her mother with farm work, she borrowed books to study and prepare for exams on her own. In 1973, Ms. Ha decided to apply and was admitted to Tan Ky Mountainous High School. In 1975, with her diploma in hand, she decided to work in the remote mountainous district of Ky Son.

Strange land, strange things, poor food and living conditions, she saved her meager salary to send home to help her mother raise her two younger siblings and, together with her colleagues, persistently stayed at school and taught the children of ethnic minorities in the highlands. The years of climbing mountains, wading through streams, "staying in the village", with malaria that made her lose her hair, dark lips, and faded her youthful beauty, tempered her to maturity. During the 5 years working at the Ky Son Highland Youth School, she continuously achieved the title of Excellent Teacher at the district level. Enthusiastic and dedicated to her profession, on September 2, 1979, Ms. Le Thi Ha was honored to join the ranks of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

After many years of dedication to the remote mountainous area, in 1980, she was transferred to Anh Son to work. She continued to devote her enthusiasm to the cause of education and training of her hometown. Rotating through many schools, she was trusted and believed everywhere. While working in Thach Son commune, she was elected to the Party Executive Committee of the commune and was a delegate to the People's Council of Thach Son commune. In 1999, she was appointed Principal of Thach Son Primary School. In just 2 years, under her management, the school's facilities, pedagogical landscape and educational quality changed dramatically.

In 2001, she was transferred to become the Principal of Phuc Son Primary School, from an average school, under the direction of the new principal, it became a leading school in movements and continuously achieved the title of Excellent Labor Collective at the provincial level; in 2002, the school was recognized as a provincial cultural unit; for 2 consecutive years, it was the Flag Unit of the school level; successfully built a national standard school level II and was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Education and Training.

Her husband is a soldier living far away, so she takes care of all the family affairs, raising children, and taking care of her elderly mother by herself. With her contributions, in addition to her many years of achievements as a Provincial Emulation Fighter, she was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Provincial Party Committee for her outstanding performance in the Campaign "Studying and following the moral example of Ho Chi Minh", the "For the cause of education" and "For the cause of trade unions" Medals. In 2010, Ms. Le Thi Ha was awarded the noble title: Meritorious Teacher by the President.

34 years dedicated to the career of "growing people"

After graduating from the Pedagogy major (in 1979), Ms. Tran Thi Hoa - Principal of Van Dien 1 Primary School (Nam Dan) spent 16 years standing on the podium, directly teaching at Nam Dan Town Primary School and Van Dien 2 Primary School. She shared: "Educating primary school students is like building the "foundation for a house", if the foundation is solid, the house will be solid. I am always aware of building a foundation of knowledge for students, how to make them confident when going to higher levels of education". That passionate thought always urges her to constantly create and innovate teaching methods. With her tireless efforts, for many years she has been recognized as a Provincial Excellent Teacher and has always been in the team of teachers training excellent students in the district. In 1993, for the first time, Nam Dan district had a primary school student who won the third prize at the national level thanks to her training.

Ms. Tran Thi Hoa in a class.

That was the first “sweet fruit” after years of dedication to her students, a meaningful spiritual gift that urged her to make more efforts. Later, when she transferred to work at the Department of Education of Nam Dan district, she was still passionate about the training classes for excellent students and excellent teachers at the district’s primary school level. With her enthusiasm in teaching her students through her extensive experience gained from years of teaching, along with her rich knowledge accumulated by herself, she has trained 4 primary school students to become national excellent students and 2 national excellent teachers (from 1996 to 2006).

Recalling the students who achieved high results in the national exam, she excitedly told each student in detail as if she were talking about her own children. During exam preparation times, students often come to her house to study so she can tutor them. Many students live far away so they stay at her house to study. She not only teaches but also takes care of their meals and sleep. Being close to them, they see her as their second mother, sharing their sadness, happiness, dreams, etc. "Many successful students come back to visit their old teachers, and I often recall those happy memories. That is the greatest happiness in a teacher's life," she confided.

In the past 6 years, as Principal of Van Dien 1 Primary School, she has contributed to improving the quality of teaching and learning at the school. “Although she works in management, Ms. Hoa is always exemplary in professional activities. She often directly teaches difficult topics for teachers in the school to learn. Taking the lead in changing teaching and learning methods, focusing on students as the center as well as thoroughly implementing the way of invigilation and grading, the quality of teaching and learning at the school has changed significantly” – Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuan – Vice Principal of Van Dien 1 Primary School shared. Concerned about the school and the lack of classrooms, Ms. Hoa has taken the lead in mobilizing socialization and building facilities. Now the school has a spacious 2-storey building and a spacious playground for learning. Thanks to Ms. Hoa’s efforts in management, direction, and encouragement of the teaching staff, the school has been recognized as an Excellent Labor Collective at the provincial level for 5 consecutive years.

In addition to her management work, she is always devoted to research and innovation in teaching methods. Many of her initiatives and experiences have been applied in innovation in teaching and learning at the primary level in the district, such as: "Some solutions to improve the quality of the teaching staff of grade 3"; "Improving the ability of perception for primary school students"; "Training good learning skills for grade 5 students"... With her great contributions to the education cause, she has achieved the title of Emulation Fighter at the grassroots level for many consecutive years and was honored to receive a Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister (in 2013).

Even though her hair is already gray, she still "sticks to school, sticks to class" every day, struggling with the career of "cultivating people" and still silently and tirelessly ferrying generations of students to the shore of knowledge...

Pham Ngan - Minh Nguyet