Glory to the poor and studious land

(Baonghean) - August, when the new school year is approaching, is also the time when good news from universities comes to many students in Nghe An. And along with gold and silver medals at international Olympic competitions, the valedictorians and salutatorians of universities have once again affirmed the tradition of studiousness of this land rich in achievements...

Leaders of the Department of Education and Training presented flowers to congratulate Cao Ngoc Thai on winning the gold medal at the International Physics Olympiad. Photo: Dao Tuan

Poor land… welcomes valedictorian

Forty years of construction, through many events, ups and downs, through many joys and sorrows, perhaps never before have teachers and students of Thanh Chuong 3 High School experienced such emotional days as this year. Because, even though it is a school located in a semi-mountainous area, even though it is in a remote place, even though there were years when it had to "scrape" to the bottom to recruit enough students, in the 2014 university entrance exam alone, the school had 3 valedictorians and 1 salutatorian. They are Duong Le Toan - Valedictorian of the Faculty of Information Technology, Hanoi University of Science and Technology; Hong Thi Huong - Valedictorian of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hanoi National University; Nguyen Huu Son - Top scorer of block A, Vinh University and Trang Thi Giang - second place, Faculty of Mathematics, Hanoi National University of Education 2. Class 12D, the class of the 3 top scorers, is also the class with a record number of university entrance exam candidates, equal to a class in a specialized school with 40/48 students having officially passed their first choice. The joy made the homeroom teacher Phan Thi Ly speechless when she met us, even though she knew that this result was not beyond her expectations. And she believes that this will be the door that opens a brighter future for her students, for students who are children of farmers but have a lot of self-respect and always have a dream, an aspiration to study to... escape poverty.

In Thanh Chuong, Thanh Chuong 3 High School is still the most difficult school. That is not only due to the terrain and topography, but also because nearly 1/3 of the students are children of poor households. The rest have parents who are mainly farmers, many of whom are from mountainous and remote areas and have to cycle dozens of kilometers to get to school. Even with this year's new valedictorians, each student has a different situation, but the most common is still "poor households", purely farmers. But the difficulties are so difficult, and the principal Phan Ba ​​Tien himself believes that thanks to those "difficulties", it creates strength, creates motivation for the collective of teachers and students of the school to always strive tirelessly. It's as simple as implementing mass quality. Before, during the admission season, every year the school's board of directors was worried because the school's entrance score was very low (average only 12 - 15 points). To overcome this situation, the school has instructed every teacher, from homeroom teachers to subject teachers, to focus all their time on strengthening tutoring for students. The school has a clear system of praise and criticism. Teachers who teach well, have many students who are excellent students, many students who get 8 points or higher in the university entrance exam will be rewarded. Teachers whose students do not improve or have low scores will be reprimanded... Then, when it comes to university entrance exams, the school has a system for teachers who have a high number of students passing the exam, and a priority policy for teachers who do good university orientation work. Good and studious students are given priority to be introduced to the Party, receive scholarships from socialized sources or are exempted from contributions, even though sometimes they are very small like parking fees...

The movement of studying well and teaching well is also to continue the tradition of studiousness of the region. Because this is the hometown of the famous poet Dinh Nhat That, of the minister Dinh Bo Cuong, the founder of the land of the region, of Doctor Nguyen The Binh. It is one of the two rare hometowns in the whole province that still retains the communal stele, which records the achievements of the children who passed the exams in the region. The geography book also states: In this land, on the Dai Can mountain range, you can still see the peak of Thap But. And wherever there is the peak of Thap But, there the children will be successful in their studies. Perhaps, that also explains why, although very happy with the successes that the teachers and students of the school have achieved this year, teacher Phan Ba ​​Tien - the school principal is not too surprised because he understands that: This success is not accidental, nor is it due to luck. It is the result of a long-term struggle, the tireless efforts of both teachers and students, of so much enthusiasm, trust and expectation... He also believes that that source will continue to flow forever because not only now but also in the future, that spirit and determination will continue to be promoted and become the driving force for the children of the region.

Proud of Nghe An land of learning

The story that after each university entrance exam season, Nghe An students are named on the golden boards seems to be no longer strange. And the people of the countryside known as “wooden fish”, “potatoes for breakfast, potatoes for lunch, potatoes for dinner, potatoes for three meals” also feel proud when reading the emotions and admiring sharing of people across the country on electronic newspapers and forums for a countryside where “fathers pass, sons pass, grandchildren pass, the whole family passes”. In fact, for many years now, Nghe An students have been at the top of the list of provinces with the highest rate of students passing the university entrance exam in the country. In 2014 alone, with the achievement of 9 valedictorians, many salutatorians and dozens of students with scores of 26 points or more, we are leading the locality with the highest number of valedictorians in the country. Among them, valedictorian Pham Duc Toan is currently the candidate with the highest score of 29.5 points, the valedictorian of the Foreign Trade University. Many valedictorians come from district schools such as Dang Thuc Hua High School, Thanh Chuong 1 High School, Thanh Chuong 3 High School, Yen Thanh 2 High School...

Students of Thanh Chuong 3 High School during review time.

Another thing to be proud of is that the top students in Nghe An are mostly poor students. Even Pham Duc Toan, although a student in Vinh City, has parents who are teachers, but his circumstances are very difficult. When visiting Toan's family, the day he learned that he had passed the highest score at the Foreign Trade University, Toan's mother kept saying sadly: In grade 11, Toan was supposed to take the A1 exam, but then he realized that taking extra English classes would cost too much money, so he stopped because he was afraid his parents wouldn't be able to afford it. Then, when applying for university, Toan hesitated, thinking of taking the Military School exam to help his parents with some of the tuition... Also because of the hardship, the top students rarely take extra classes. Like Toan, his mother said that "the money he spent on extra classes for 3 years is equal to what other people spend on one month". As for the top students in Thanh Chuong 3, the secret to studying well is to grasp the knowledge at school thoroughly, then study at home and do exercises by themselves. Many other students also believe that studying well is important in having a reasonable and scientific way of studying, knowing how to analyze lessons yourself, and studying based on understanding, not just memorizing and following available sample lessons.

Commenting on the results of this year's university entrance exam season, Mr. Thai Huy Vinh - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training also said: This is the result of a year of innovation in the entire education sector. In particular, this shows the maturity of the teaching staff spread across schools, proving that the direction of educational institutions is uniform throughout the province despite the large area of ​​our province and spread across regions. The achievements of the students also show that in the last school year, all students with talents and strengths were able to develop their abilities and that will be the premise and basis for us to continue implementing in the following years.

My Ha