Teachers in the mountainous region of Nghe An crossed the forest, lit lamps and went to each house to encourage students to return to school.
(Baonghean.vn) - At the beginning of the new school year, to stabilize the number of students, many schools in the highlands of Nghe An such as Tuong Duong and Ky Son had to cross the forest regardless of day or night, rain or shine, to go to each house to persuade students to go to school.
One day at the end of August, the sky in the remote border area of Nhon Mai commune (Tuong Duong district) suddenly poured rain. The meeting of the Nhon Mai Kindergarten Council had just ended, the teachers hurriedly put on raincoats and divided themselves to go to each village point to both do the work of universalizing education andmobilize students to go to schoolon time
Teacher Vi Thi Hien - Principal of Nhon Mai Kindergarten said that in the 2023-2024 school year, the school has 297 students with 1 main campus and 7 campuses in remote villages. Many of the campuses are far from the commune center, with difficult terrain such as Huoi Co, Huoi Man, Pieng Oi... Most of the people here have quite difficult lives, the information system is still limited, so they are not regularly informed about the policies of the education sector. Therefore, every year, at the beginning of the school year, teachers have to go to each house to both mobilize students to go to school and do universal education work.
Among the schools in Nhon Mai commune, Huoi Man school is considered the most difficult village. The road to the village and Huoi Man school is a dirt road with a very steep slope, making it impossible to enter by motor vehicle. The distance is 8 km but the teachers here have to walk for 4-5 hours. When it rains, the slippery road makes the journey seem even longer.
Teacher Nguyen Thi Phuong - in charge of Huoi Man village shared: If we don't go to each house, we won't know the number of students and we won't be able to get them to school on time. Unfortunately, many days when we go to the students' houses during the day, their parents are out in the fields. Therefore, Ms. Phuong and some other colleagues have to choose to go at night to meet the students' families.
“Sometimes I feel scared, I am a woman, it is raining, the road is long and hard but I still try to endure, but going at night in this quiet mountain forest makes me feel uneasy. And if I don’t go, I feel sorry for the students who can’t go to school on time” – Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong confided.
In Ky Son district, in the 2023-2024 school year, the district has 73 schools and more than 25,000 students. With a large number of students going to the South to visit relatives during the summer vacation, the Education Department has asked schools to grasp the number and have timely plans to mobilize students to return to their hometowns to prepare for the new school year. Due to the remote terrain and traffic disruption, many schools in the district also have difficulty mobilizing students.
At Nam Can Ethnic Boarding Secondary School, for the past few days, teachers have been assigned to go to 6 villages in the commune to mobilize students to go to school. In the 2023-2024 school year, the whole school has 339 students, including 290 boarding students from 3 ethnic groups: Thai, Mong and Kho Mu. Some villages are still difficult to travel to, with long and isolated roads such as Huoi Poc, Pa Ka... especially when it rains, landslides often occur.
Early in the morning, as the sun was just rising, teacher Vo Van Toan and his colleagues set out for Huoi Poc village. This is currently the most difficult village in Nam Can commune, located 20 km from the commune center with winding, steep roads. To reach the village, each teacher had to take a vehicle and support each other to overcome many difficult sections of the road.
According to teacher Vo Van Toan, Huoi Poc is home to many Mong ethnic groups, and life is inherently difficult, so many people leave their villages to work far away in companies in the South. Last summer, some students went to the South to visit relatives and are still not present in the area even though the new school year is near.
“After consulting with the village chief and learning that Ly YX was living with her parents in the South, we got her phone number and called her family to persuade them to bring her back to prepare for the new school year. Although they couldn’t bear to leave their child, her parents agreed and promised to take a bus home this weekend to get her back to school on August 28th,” Mr. Toan happily shared.
Teacher Dao Hai Lam - Vice Principal of the school informed: The number of students of the school going to the South during the summer is very large. However, thanks to timely intervention such as announcements and mobilization, families have sent their children back to their hometowns to prepare for school. Currently, only 2 students will return this weekend.
It can be understood that, in addition to their professional work, teachers in the highlands of Nghe An are sticking with their schools, classes, villages and students every day and every hour, hoping for a favorable new school year for them.
Although the career of educating people in the highlands is still difficult, with their love for the profession, teachers are willing to devote their strength and intelligence to bring knowledge to the green buds in the border of the Fatherland./.