Letters from Uncle Ho on the occasion of the opening day of school

(Baonghan.vn) - Uncle Ho, the beloved revolutionary leader of the Vietnamese people. He paid special attention to the young generation, the future owners of the country. Right in the first days of the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, despite being busy with a thousand things, Uncle Ho still took the time to write letters to students on the first day of school.

Every year, when the new school year begins, many generations of teachers and students remember Uncle Ho. He left our nation and people a great and priceless spiritual heritage, which is Ho Chi Minh's thought. In that precious spiritual heritage, there is Uncle Ho's special affection for the education sector. His advice and concerns for the education sector are expressed in the letters he sent to teachers and students on the occasion of the annual school opening.

Before 1945, when our entire nation was immersed in slavery, although he was living overseas, Uncle Ho still clearly understood the reality of the country's education: there were more prisons than schools, prisons were always open and packed with people,... out of 10 schools, there were 1,500 alcohol dealers.

On September 2, 1945, the newly born Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the first worker-peasant state in Southeast Asia, marked a new development step of the Vietnamese nation. After national independence was affirmed, it was also the time when our Uncle Ho showed his concern for education.

In the letter Uncle Ho sent to students on the first day of school in September 1945, right after he read the Declaration of Independence, he imagined the bustling scene of the first day of school everywhere. From this moment on, you will begin to receive a completely Vietnamese education. You are luckier than your fathers and brothers to receive an education from an independent country, an education that will train you to become useful citizens for the country, an education that will fully develop your inherent abilities.

He wrote: “Today is the first day of school in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. I have imagined before my eyes the bustling and jubilant scene of the first day of school everywhere (...). Listen to me, the words of an older brother who always sincerely wishes for you to be excellent. In the coming school year, you must try hard, study diligently, be obedient, listen to your teachers, and love your friends. After 80 years of slavery that weakened our country, today we need to rebuild the foundation that our ancestors left us, so that we can catch up with other countries in the world. In that construction, our country expects a lot from you. Whether Vietnam becomes beautiful or not, whether the Vietnamese people can step up to the stage of glory to stand shoulder to shoulder with the great powers of the five continents or not, depends largely on your studies.”

This is a letter that generations of children and students from the August Revolution until now have all remembered, known and memorized. In this letter, Uncle Ho considered himself as an older brother to join the children and students to express his affection to advise them to study, to educate them on the tradition of loving their ancestors, to preserve the beautiful country that our ancestors worked so hard to build. And Uncle Ho's earnest wish was that Vietnam could stand shoulder to shoulder with the great powers of the five continents, and he placed great hope in the students.

Uncle Ho is watching a child spell while visiting a kindergarten class on Hang Than Street, Hanoi, in 1958.

Right after the first school year of Vietnam began, to combat illiteracy, on October 4, 1945, Uncle Ho directed that it was necessary to improve people's knowledge. He wanted all Vietnamese people to know how to read and write: "Those who can read and write should teach those who cannot read and write... if the wife does not know, the husband should teach, if the younger brother does not know, the older brother should teach, if the parents do not know, the children should teach, if the workers do not know, the landlord should teach, the rich should open private classes to teach illiterate people in their neighbors, the owners of hamlets, plantations, mines, and factories should open classes for their tenants and employees." With the above forms of combating illiteracy, a learning society has been created.

In the People's Newspaper No. 600, published on October 24, 1955, under the pen name CB, there was an article sent to students with messages on the occasion of the opening day of the school: "Educating children is a COMMON task of the family, school and society. Parents, teachers and adults must take responsibility together; first of all, they must set an example for children in everything... Children need to practice the virtues of honesty and courage. At school, respect teachers, love friends, unite and help each other. At home, love and help parents. In society, according to your ability, participate in activities that are of common interest."

Uncle Ho on the occasion of visiting teachers and students of a popular education class.

On October 31, 1955, Uncle Ho sent a letter to teachers, students, youth cadres and children on the occasion of schools entering a new school year:

“First of all, we must strive to eradicate the remaining colonial educational influences, such as: indifference towards society, distance from the working life and struggle of the people, studying to get degrees, teaching by brainwashing. And we need to build ideology, teaching and learning to serve the Fatherland, to serve the people. Schools must be closely linked to the reality of the country, to the lives of the people. Teachers and students, depending on their circumstances and abilities, need to participate in social work, to benefit the country and the people.”

According to Uncle Ho, it is necessary to eliminate the bad things in education and take over and build on the good things of traditional national education to serve the Fatherland and the people. Uncle Ho always put the fate and development of the Fatherland above all else, the people above all else.

On September 20, 1956, on the occasion of the new school year, Uncle Ho sent a greeting card for the new school year, with a brief content but containing his deep feelings for the generation of students and teachers: "I hope that you students will compete in studying, respect your teachers, love your friends and make a lot of progress. I hope that teachers will compete in teaching you so that you can make quick progress. I hope that parents will do their best to help the school in educating our children to achieve good results."

Uncle Ho visited and talked with teachers and students of southern schools in Hai Phong.

At the political class of secondary and high school teachers in the North, on September 13, 1958, Uncle Ho gave an important speech about the duties of teachers in the education and training career. He advised:

“For the benefit of ten years, we must plant trees; for the benefit of a hundred years, we must cultivate people. We must train good citizens and good cadres for the country. The people, the Party, and the Government assign the task of training the future generation to you. It is a heavy but glorious responsibility. I hope everyone will try to fulfill their duties.”

Thus, in the career of educating people, Uncle Ho assigned responsibility and placed all expectations on two main subjects: teachers and students. Both, as later, in many instructions, Uncle only required two good things, that is, good learning and good teaching.

In the 1960-1961 school year, on August 31, 1960, Uncle Ho sent a letter to education officials, students, and pupils of schools and cultural supplementary classes, affirming: “This school year is the year that ends the 3-year plan and begins the first 5-year plan to build the material and technical foundations of socialism. Culture and education must develop strongly to serve the requirements of the revolution, culture and education is an important front in the cause of building socialism in the North and the struggle to achieve national reunification… In education and learning, we must pay attention to all aspects of revolutionary ethics, socialist enlightenment, culture, technology, labor and production”.

In the 1963-1964 school year, in his Letter to Teachers and Students, Uncle Ho devoted his heart to sending his best wishes to teachers and students with the determination to teach well, students to study well and encouraged the school to promote the "Two Good" emulation so that the number of students who study well will be even greater.

Teachers and students happily welcomed President Ho Chi Minh to visit the Waterway and Road Transport High School.

In his last years, despite his old age and poor health, Uncle Ho still followed every step of the school in the Vietnamese education system. The 1968-1969 school year was the year that Uncle Ho sent his last letter on the opening day of school. On October 16, 1968, Uncle Ho expressed the content of the letter by praising the efforts in emulating good teaching and good learning, ensuring the safety of teachers and students, making material and spiritual life increasingly progressive. Because the war escalated, the US imperialists were still stubborn, our country's revolution still had to overcome many difficulties and hardships to achieve complete victory.

Therefore, Uncle Ho reminds you, uncles, aunts and children, of the following: “…Teachers and students must always uphold the spirit of loving the Fatherland and socialism, strengthen revolutionary sentiments towards workers and peasants, be absolutely loyal to the revolutionary cause, thoroughly trust in the leadership of the Party, be ready to accept any task assigned by the Party and the people, and always strive to be worthy of the heroic Southern compatriots.

No matter how difficult it is, we must continue to compete to teach well and study well. On the basis of good political education and ideological leadership, we must strive to improve cultural and professional quality in order to practically solve the problems raised by our country's revolution and, in the near future, reach the peaks of science and technology. You, my aunts, uncles, and children, must work together to organize and manage the material and spiritual life in schools to become better and better, and to strengthen health and safety assurance.

The task of teachers is very important and very glorious. Education is the cause of the masses. It is necessary to fully promote socialist democracy, build good relationships, and create close solidarity between teachers, between teachers and students, between students, between officials at all levels, between schools and people to successfully complete that task.

Uncle Ho with children from Sen village, Kim Lien commune, Nam Dan, Nghe An on the occasion of his visit to his hometown.

It can be said that Uncle Ho's heartfelt words from the first letter (September 1945) to the last letter (October 1968) are still relevant, are priceless heritages, are sacred treasures of our people, our country in general and of the education sector in particular.

The 2016-2017 school year has officially begun nationwide with much excitement and joy. In the general atmosphere, imbued with Uncle Ho's teachings, feelings and thoughts, to be worthy of his special attention and great, earnest expectations, the teaching staff and all students of Nghe An province continue the new school year with high determination, turning awareness into concrete actions, contributing to the success of the education cause with new developments according to the humanistic ideology and philosophy of education of President Ho Chi Minh.

Peace

(Synthetic)