National Outstanding Teacher Trinh Van Toan: Always trying to help students progress

Look at students with positivity and progress

PV:In early November, a clip went viral on social media, recording a scene of a female student at the center being beaten by a classmate in the middle of the street. At the Center for Vocational Education - Continuing Education of Do Luong district, this is not the first time this information has been received. Is this one of the school's difficulties when the students attending the center include many "special" students?

Teacher Trinh Van Toan:What happened was unfortunate and unwanted. In fact, in recent years, the students who come to our center are often at the bottom of the admissions scale. Of the nearly 1,000 students in the school, nearly 40% have special circumstances such as parents who have divorced, have committed crimes, or are in prison. They have to live with their grandparents and lack family care and education.

Having worked at the school for more than 15 years, with many different roles from teacher, union secretary, union president, security officer and now manager, I am very interested in students belonging to these groups. Therefore, right from the beginning of the school year, we have reviewed the groups, divided them into classes suitable for each homeroom teacher and directly assigned homeroom teachers to care for students with difficult circumstances, regularly visit and encourage them so that they do not feel inferior.

In addition, the school security team regularly follows the students, assigns companions to share with them in the process of traveling, studying, and implementing the rules and regulations of the unit. That not only helps maintain school discipline but also helps the students become more optimistic, motivated to progress and try harder.

PV:As you said, the center's top priority is to educate people. But with more than 40% of students being special subjects, this is very difficult. So, what solutions has the center had to maintain discipline in the school?

Teacher Trinh Van Toan:At our Center, we have many specific rules and regulations that are agreed upon between parents, students and the school. For example, students are not allowed to bring cell phones to the center.

Students are only allowed to be absent from school in 6 special cases such as illness confirmed by a medical facility, marriage of a sibling, death of a family member… and must have the signature of a parent. We also regularly check the discipline in the classroom such as learning tools, toenails, fingernails, costumes…

When students move from secondary school to continuing education, a special management unit, many students are still confused and have difficulty adapting. Many students are "stuck" because the center's discipline is different from their previous school. Therefore, we usually teach discipline and school rules on the first day of school.

For those who are not familiar with the center, the homeroom teacher will mobilize and advise parents, so that parents will accompany the school in implementing the center's very specific regulations, such as leave, tardiness, and being late. In special cases of non-cooperation, we will invite students to meet the school's board of directors and school security to find a suitable solution. Fortunately, many students before coming to the center already know the discipline of the unit and they have prepared themselves mentally.

Some parents initially felt different and had some reactions, but later they knew that we were doing it for the students so they fully supported us.

PV: Normally, teachers tend to have sympathy for students who are well-behaved, studious, and have a good foundation. But for students who do not have those advantages, how will you motivate and encourage them so that they can “overcome themselves”?

Teacher Trinh Van Toan:I often tell teachers to look at students positively, by their progress. A student may oversleep and be late. But if he tries and gets up to go to school, it means he has made an effort not to miss a class. Don't judge a student by their appearance. If we are close to them, they will overcome their inferiority complex.

I have also asked students many times why they failed the exam and still come to the center to study. Many students said that here the teachers are very caring, the friends are happy and friendly so we never feel like we are studying in Continuing Education. That is the motivation for them to try. Many students later grow up and go to university, they are still proud to be students of the Center.

Quality is the "measure" of enrollment

PV: You have worked at the unit since 2008 and witnessed many different stages of the unit. The hardships must have been many, especially in the recruitment work. From an unfavorable starting point, how has the center risen to become a trusted educational address for parents and students in the district?

Teacher Trinh Van Toan:At any stage, enrollment is a key factor and determines the existence of a unit. In fact, not only in 2008 did we encounter difficulties, but even now, there are still many hardships. However, in the minds of the people, parents and students, there is always a certain antipathy towards the regular education system.

From this reality, our school has had many solutions to attract students. First, we must improve the quality of training. Second, there must be practical benefits for students when they come to school, for example, we both study culture and combine vocational secondary school... Third, we do a very good job of ensuring school security and order, students are managed from school to home and from home to school. Many parents want their children to be good before they are good.

From what we have done, the unit has increasingly received the trust of parents and students, and in recent years the size of the school has increased. If in 2019, the whole school had only 14 classes, in 2023 it increased to 22 classes.

PV:With an unfavorable starting point, the Center for Vocational Education - Continuing Education of Do Luong district has continuously maintained its leading position in the province in terms of the number of excellent students at the provincial level (continuing education system). Moreover, the general achievement is also very proud when this year, the school rose to the 20th position in the high school graduation exam results, surpassing more than 80 high schools and other educational institutions in the province. Can you tell us more about the "breakthroughs" of the Center?

Teacher Trinh Van Toan:Over the years, the quality of mass education in Do Luong district has always been highly appreciated. In addition, we have received the support of parents in coordinating to implement solutions with the school. We maintain the training of key resources. As of now, Do Luong District Continuing Education Center is the only center in the province that can maintain the organization of excellent students from grade 10 and the team will be screened over many school years.

For many years now, every year the center has had many students participating in the provincial excellent student competition, and one year I even wrote a request for more quotas because I wanted to build a movement. For students joining the team, we have incentive policies such as students being exempted from tuition fees. When they win awards, they are given favorable conditions in terms of ranking so that they can easily study at university or college.

To achieve such a remarkable graduation rate, we have also worked very hard. Specifically, we divide 12th graders into many levels, some with 6 points, some with only 1-3 points... and assign teachers suitable for each type of subject to teach. In addition, we use many types such as regular study, extra study, tutoring and especially free tutoring. Many teachers on holidays often organize review sessions for 3-5 students and do not charge students at all.

Regarding the implementation of quality assurance in education at school, when the Department of Education and Training issued this policy, we were the first center to register. This will certainly put pressure on teachers, but we determined that going to work means having pressure, teachers will be pressured by the center, the center will be pressured by the Department and that will be the driving force for success. I am very happy that every year the results achieved are higher than the target that the school registered.

To balance pressure and achievement, we try to ensure that teachers have contracts and a good living standard so that teachers can work with peace of mind and be objective in evaluating, classifying, and assigning appropriate work.

Turn difficulties and pressure into motivation

PV:As the principal of a special unit with many difficulties, is that a pressure for you?

Teacher Trinh Van Toan:At this time, I still say to myself that having a job is a lucky thing. Personally, I am the leader, I know we have a lot of pressure from admission, pressure to ensure quality and finally pressure on staffing. Our unit is only allocated 9 staffing positions by the state, of which the number of teachers is only 3 people. The rest are management and other departments.

We are currently contracting more than 20 people and the unit manager must calculate, weigh, measure, and count to arrange jobs for workers according to their abilities but must ensure harmony and income. In addition, the unit's revenue is limited, so all activities must be carefully considered and calculated to be able to maintain operations while still ensuring teaching quality.

PV: This year, you are one of the few managers, especially a manager in a special unit, to be honored by the Ministry of Education and Training as a national outstanding cadre and teacher on the occasion of Vietnam Teachers' Day, November 20. This is also the second consecutive year that the center has had an individual honored, which is not an easy thing. What does this event mean to you personally and to the Do Luong Center for Vocational Education - Continuing Education?

Teacher Trinh Van Toan:We are truly proud. We did not think that in two years a district-level Continuing Education Center would have this honor and are grateful for the attention, introduction and recognition from leaders at all levels.

Having attended this program and listened to our colleagues share, we feel that we are fortunate to be working in education in a favorable area. And from the stories of our colleagues, we feel that we need to spread the word even more, and we need to make more efforts because there are many colleagues who can do more than us.

For me, this title has its own meaning. I myself am not from Nghe An but I graduated from university and have a connection with this land. I may not be originally from here but I have never considered that as a limitation. I think that if I work in education, I will be happy with anything I can contribute to education and to students.

PV: Thank you for joining the chat!