Finding literacy – the struggle remains.

(Baonghean.vn) - According to Decision 112/QD-TTg dated July 20, 2007, of the Prime Minister, disadvantaged junior high school students in mountainous areas were supported with 140,000 VND per month. However, this policy has now ended. While waiting for another support policy, the lives and studies of these students are facing many difficulties.

At the beginning of the year, I traveled to Mon Son – a border commune in the particularly difficult region of Con Cuong district – to visit the teachers who are working tirelessly day and night to teach, sow dreams, and build up the village. Many teachers looked worried and saddened because: the government's policy support program for poor boarding students, as stipulated in Decision 112/QD-TTg dated July 20, 2007, had ended last year; and the monthly tuition support of 70,000 VND for the students was delayed. Now, besides teaching, the teachers have to worry about providing food for the students. Their salaries are divided and shared to provide food and clothing for the children, and when they can no longer manage to provide, it will be very difficult to keep the students at school...

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Vy, Vice Principal of Mon Son Secondary School: Following the policies of the State and the Education sector, in the 2009-2010 school year, the school, in coordination with Border Guard Post 555, organized two teams of teachers to go to villages, hamlets, and families to encourage children to attend school. The persuasion was not easy because the Dan Lai people are accustomed to living in isolation, self-sufficiently, and adults do not yet fully understand the benefits of literacy. Children, whenever they see strangers at their homes, run straight into the forest.

The teachers had to persevere for a whole month, eating and living with the children to change their mindset and instill in them dreams of escaping poverty and hunger through education... If persuading the children to attend school was difficult, then providing them with food, shelter, and clothing for their studies was even more challenging: the Dan Lai people are very poor, and parents completely entrust the responsibility of providing food and accommodation to the school.

The children's belongings when traveling from their villages to the commune center for school consisted of only one or two tattered sets of clothes. Therefore, along with government support programs, to keep the children at school, teachers at Mon Son Secondary School used their own money to hire boats to transport them; each teacher took on one student to care for their meals and studies; they regularly visited, encouraged, and used their salaries to help the children buy necessities. When students lacked clothing, the school submitted a request to more accessible schools to solicit donations; together with the local authorities, they appealed to organizations, agencies, units, and businesses to donate rice for the children. The school also requested local funding and donations from charitable organizations to build a boarding house. The school proposed that the district hire a person specifically to take care of the children's living arrangements and guide them in agricultural production.

Caring for and nurturing 73 children who are at a crucial age for growth and development is no easy task, but through the efforts and love of the teachers, and the support of their classmates, the students of Dan Lai have found a second home. The school's boarding facility has 5 rooms currently housing over 40 students, while the rest stay in the homes of local residents around the school. Ms. Le Thi Thu Hien, a teacher from the lowlands who recently started working here, sadly recounted: "The children lack so much, both materially and spiritually. A meal for six people consists of only one basket of rice, one vegetable dish, and some braised fish." The 2011-2012 school year is even more difficult because in the 2010-2011 school year and before, the students received a government subsidy of 140,000 VND per month. Now that this subsidy is gone, their living expenses are entirely dependent on the help of their classmates and teachers.

According to teacher Nguyen Van Vy, last school year, the school also mobilized the Women's Union of the commune to help the children with 300 kg of rice, Border Guard Post 555 provided each child with 7 kg of rice per month, the District Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs provided 6 tons of rice; and Huong Rung Company donated 28 million VND to buy beds and blankets for the children. This school year, the school only received 1 ton of rice from the District Military Command and 1 million VND from the District Insurance Office, so the school mobilized each teacher to donate 10 kg of rice. With 33 teachers, the school has nearly 350 kg of rice for the children to eat. The food situation is already difficult, but there are still many other things to worry about: books, pens, ink, buying more blankets, warm clothes... If this situation continues, when the children's stomachs are no longer satisfied, they will have to go home!

Mr. Nguyen Trong Hoan, Chief of the Office of the Department of Education and Training, said: "Not only students in Dan Lai but also students in remote areas of the province are facing many difficulties and shortages like this now that Policy 112 has ended. While waiting for a replacement policy, the Education sector is also looking for solutions to help these children, but it is not easy. More than ever, these children need the generosity of organizations and individuals to join hands and contribute to bringing them to school..."

The image of Dan Lai ethnic minority students with their hands stained black from watering and tending to a lush green cabbage garden to improve their meals at the Mon Son Secondary School's boarding facility shows the students' aspirations and the dedication of their teachers. However, it seems that bringing literacy to students in this particularly disadvantaged area still involves many hardships and difficulties.

Thanh Chung - Thao Nhi