Entering the 2019-2020 school year, Mong children in Tri Le commune (Que Phong district) chattered as they left the mountains to go to school. Their steps down the mountain will create momentum for them to go further and step higher.
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| Gia Y Xia, 11 years old, in Pa Khom village, Tri Le commune (Que Phong) and her mother checked their luggage one last time. Her luggage included books, clothes and many other small items. |
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| Y Xia's mother looked at her son lovingly but also worried about her son's journey away from home as he went down the mountain to stay at a boarding school to pursue his studies. As for her, she entered the cycle of the busy farming season. |
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| Leaving the school in the village, entering grade 6, the first year of secondary school, Y Xia will go to the communal school 15 km away from the village through the forest to continue studying. On the first day of school, Y Xia eagerly looks forward to... |
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| Letting the children go to the commune to study is a great effort to change the family's perception. Photo: Thanh Cuong |
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| According to the Pa Khom and Ba Re village chiefs: In Pa Khom, the main income of the people depends on the forest and farming. Adults are often on the fields, so 11-12 year old children like Y Xia become the pillars of the family... Letting the children go to the commune to study is a great effort, changing the family's perception. |
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| The Mong girls leave their doorsteps and go down the mountain. There is hesitation in their steps, but their steps are strong and they reach out to acquire knowledge. |
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| Y Xia was not alone on this trip away from home. She was accompanied by 8 other children from the same Pa Khom village. All 9 of these children were born in 2008 and entered 6th grade this time. |
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| Welcoming the new school year, Tri Le Boarding Secondary School has admitted 220 students to grade 6 from 11 villages, increasing the total number of students in the school from 725 to 772. "Despite many difficulties, the school will try its best to help, care for and educate the students. All teachers are the same, everyone loves the students for their children, taking good care of them from meals, sleep to studying" - Mr. Ho Duc Huy, Vice Principal of Tri Le Boarding Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities said. |
