Teacher Tran Van Nga: Igniting the Passion

(Baonghean.vn) - From an average student who only enjoyed making kites, setting traps, and gathering firewood, a beating from his father at the beginning of 10th grade changed him. Thanks to his mother's encouragement and his own willpower, he quickly rose to prominence. At 35 years old, with perhaps 10 years of experience, he has guided 5 students to win nearly 10 gold, silver, and bronze medals in the Asian and International Physics Olympiads. He has received numerous commendations and certificates of merit from the Prime Minister, the Minister of Education and Training, the People's Committee of Nghe An province, and Phan Boi Chau Specialized High School.

Teacher Tran Van Nga on the joyous day of receiving an award from the Provincial People's Committee.

I say this because his father taught far from home even before Nga was born. Every week when he came home, his father would prepare bamboo tubes, bran, bait, and potatoes so that the following week he could set eel traps on his way to school, and at the end of the week he would bring back eels and a few coins for his wife and children. He was a gentle, quiet person who understood his family's difficult circumstances. He spent one part of the day studying and the other helping his mother with household chores, from farming to cooking and washing clothes. He even sold firewood, delivered alcohol, carried bread, and collected wastewater for his mother to feed the pigs.

The worries of family life kept him so engrossed in work that he neglected his studies. In the 1992-1993 school year, he was admitted to the advanced class at Do Luong 1 High School. On the very first day of the new school year, he didn't know what the vector symbol meant, so he asked his father. "Annoyed by his attitude towards studying, I yelled at him and spanked him," Mr. Nghiem recounted. "But after hearing my wife say, 'You haven't paid enough attention to our son's studies,' I put down the whip and explained it to him. From then on, I paid more attention to his studies."

Not wanting to upset his parents, he secretly set himself a strict study schedule: he still helped his mother with housework, but whenever he had free time, he would read. Every night, he would do extra homework until 1 or 2 in the morning before finally going to bed. Seeing her son diligently studying, Mrs. Thai Thi Nam – his mother – always encouraged him and watched over him until he fell asleep before she could rest easy.

Ignite the passion

Mr. Nguyen Tai Cong, a teacher at Do Luong 1 High School, said: "During her high school years, although Nga wasn't an outstanding student with remarkable achievements, she improved day by day, clearly visible each year. We saw in Nga a spirit, determination, and hidden talent."

After graduating from high school, guided by his parents and with his own calculations (studying at a teacher training college offered tuition fee exemptions), he bypassed Hanoi University of Economics and Business to become a student in the Physics Education department at Vinh University. During his student years, he studied intensely, as if racing against time, as if to make up for the days spent struggling to make ends meet. Not only was he academically gifted, but he was also an active member of the Student Newsletter, the Scientific Proceedings of the Physics Department, the university's scientific journal, and a well-known joker in the Student Newspaper. Yet, he never forgot to go to the bakery every morning to pick up bread to send back home for his mother to sell...

After four years of diligent study, he graduated with honors and applied to teach at Nguyen Hue Private High School with the goal of gaining more experience, teaching while also working part-time to earn money to fund his postgraduate studies. In 2000, while pursuing his postgraduate studies, he heard that Phan Boi Chau Specialized High School was recruiting teachers, so he applied. After two rounds of selection tests, he was accepted to teach at the school. In 2001, he graduated with the highest score in his cohort. A year later, the school entrusted him with teaching the specialized Physics class. He is the youngest teacher in the school's history in terms of both age and experience to be given the responsibility of homeroom teacher and mentor for the specialized Physics class.

The Physics Department at Phan Boi Chau Specialized High School has long been considered a "mine" of top-performing students at the national and international levels in the province and the country. Although he recently graduated and lacks experience, he wasn't overwhelmed by experienced teachers like Mr. Cung, Mr. Thao, and Mr. Toan, but instead boldly learned from his colleagues. He also didn't abandon his reading habit, diligently searching for new information, new books, and old exam papers to provide for his students' preparation.

With the keen eye of a dedicated teacher, as the 10th-grade students neared the end of the school year, he selected those with outstanding potential for further training. Coincidentally, most of the academically excellent students chosen came from simple rural villages with a tradition of academic excellence. When initial results of the provincial or national student competitions were announced, to provide them with better opportunities and to closely monitor and tutor them, he brought most of the students to his home, making it his "headquarters" for revision.

He shared: "Most of the students who come to me are poor but studious. Knowing their difficulties, I brought them to my home to tutor them. Near major exams, we would stay up until 1 or 2 in the morning. We were like family. Therefore, my students were also very diligent and self-motivated to learn."

Besides providing optimal solutions for each type of problem, he believes it's essential to instill in his students a passion for knowledge. Because only with love, enthusiasm, and passion will they have the motivation and determination. This passion fosters self-awareness, self-learning, self-discovery, and self-acquisition of knowledge. That's why he doesn't put pressure on his students, but instead quietly encourages and motivates them. For some difficult problems, he and his students would work late into the night, struggling to find the best solution. Whenever she visits her son in Vinh and sees his students studying so hard, Mrs. Nam sees a reflection of her son's past. Out of love for her son and her students, she wakes up at 1 AM to prepare instant noodles or boil potatoes and corn for them to "nourish" themselves and boost their energy for studying...

Victory and glorylight

"I highly value students with a self-learning spirit. A teacher should not only teach but also guide and direct their learning, rather than doing the work for them or forcing them to memorize solutions using their own methods. Sometimes, students themselves provide teachers with newer, faster, and more accurate methods than the teacher's approach." With this teaching method, nearly 100% of the students in the classes he supervised were admitted to prestigious universities nationwide. Many were selected for gifted student programs at universities, and many are currently studying abroad at renowned universities in the US, UK, France, Russia, and other countries.

In particular, through his perseverance, hard work, and dedication, he successfully instilled a passion for Physics in many students, who then ignited that small flame into a bright torch on the regional and international stage, bringing glory to the academic achievements of Nghe An province. Among the students he discovered and nurtured, some notable figures include: Vo Hoang Bien - who participated in the Asian Physics Olympiad in Indonesia (2005); Nguyen Tat Nghia - the only Vietnamese student and the first 11th-grade student from Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted to win 3 gold medals in Physics (2 gold medals at the Asian Physics Olympiad and 1 gold medal at the International Physics Olympiad), ranking in the top 10 of the International Physics Olympiad in 2007 and 2008; and Nguyen Trung Hung - Bronze Medal at the Asian Physics Olympiad (2010). Most recently, Nguyen Huy Hoang won a bronze medal at the 2011 Asian Physics Olympiad, a gold medal at the International Physics Olympiad, and Nguyen Dinh Hoi won a silver medal at the 42nd International Physics Olympiad in Thailand.

Mr. Dau Van Mui, Principal of Phan Boi Chau Specialized High School, said: "In the 10 years of working at Phan Boi Chau Specialized High School, Mr. Tran Van Nga - currently the Head of the Physics Department - is the youngest person to hold this important position since the school's establishment. He has achieved many accomplishments: 4 level 4 innovative teaching methods, first prize in the provincial excellent teacher competition in 2004-2005, including a highly-rated topic: 'Contributing to the training of national and international excellent students through the special theory of relativity'; he has received over 20 commendations from the Nghe An Provincial People's Committee for his teaching achievements and training of national and international excellent students. In 2007, he received a commendation from the Minister of Education and Training. In 2008, he received a commendation from the Prime Minister."

Thanks to his outstanding achievements in nurturing national and international-level gifted students, Mr. Tran Van Nga has received many attractive offers from other provinces. However, he always reminds himself: "The sunshine and wind of Nghe An have nurtured me and shaped me into who I am today. Therefore, I wish to contribute more to my homeland, cultivating generations of outstanding students who represent Vietnamese intellect and stand shoulder to shoulder with their international peers."

Thao Nhi