National outstanding teacher asked by students' parents to attend parent-teacher meeting

To help students reach high and far

66 km is the familiar route from Tien Phong commune to Quang Phong commune that teacher Tran Yen Viet travels every day. This is also one of the most difficult routes in the mountainous district of Que Phong, because the road was built a long time ago and is degraded. Along the way to school, there are countless potholes, whether it is sunny or rainy, traveling is not easy.

Although it is hard and tiring, during the school year, Mr. Viet spends most of his time at school, even during the summer.

In addition to his professional duties with regular teaching hours at school, Mr. Viet is also passionate about discovering and nurturing talented students. Many of Mr. Viet's students are now athletes participating in training at the provincial Sports Training Center and some central ministries and branches.

Having been with Quang Phong Secondary School for nearly 10 years, Mr. Viet is also considered the person who brought the titles of excellent provincial student and excellent national student to this school in a difficult area.

From 2019 to present, Quang Phong Secondary School has had 2 students winning Second Prize in the District-level Phu Dong Sports Festival; 5 students winning First Prize, 3 students winning Second Prize in the Provincial Phu Dong Sports Festival. The school also won 2 Second Prizes, 2 Third Prizes at the National Phu Dong Sports Festival.

In addition to teaching, teacher Tran Yen Viet also participated in training the Que Phong district athlete team to participate in the 9th Nghe An Provincial Sports Festival, ranking first among mountainous districts and fifth in the province. In 2023 and 2024, he participated in training the athlete team to compete in the Nghe An province swimming and athletics tournament, winning 10 Gold Medals, 16 Silver Medals, and 8 Bronze Medals.

Sharing about his experience teaching physical education at school and coaching the district’s teams, Mr. Viet said that there is a connection between the two jobs. Therefore, thanks to being able to go to class, teach and interact with students every day, he has the opportunity to discover students with potential and talent to nurture and maximize their abilities. This will also be a source of potential athletes for the district to participate in provincial and national tournaments.

Accompanying students in competitions will help teachers and students understand each other better, overcome hardships and difficulties, and work together with determination to bring the best results for the school and the district's athletes.

To have students achieve high results, Mr. Viet does not hesitate to face difficulties and hardships. During the year, Mr. Viet is present at school almost every day to train students. In the days before exams, in addition to instructing students at school, Mr. Viet also takes students home to take care of, nurture and train them further.

Due to the limited physical education facilities and equipment at school, Mr. Viet does not hesitate to spend part of his salary to buy his students additional essential training equipment. Sometimes, even though he rides a motorbike, he still travels a long distance to bring car tires to school so that his students have more training equipment.

Along with Mr. Viet, his wife, who is also an elementary school teacher, has always accompanied him so that he has more time to spend with his students. When the students come home, she and the teacher take care of their meals, sleep, and create all conditions for both teachers and students to practice with peace of mind.

Teachers are also fathers and mothers.

One day in early November, despite being busy with his teaching schedule at school, teacher Tran Yen Viet still tried to arrange time to go to the provincial Sports Training Center to meet with coaches and hold parent-teacher meetings for his students.

Before that, he also went to Hanoi to hold a parent-teacher meeting for a student who was being trained at the Police Department. For the Board of Directors of Quang Phong Secondary School, it seems that Mr. Viet sometimes has to take time off from his professional work to attend parent-teacher meetings for students who are being trained in the lowlands.

Many parents whose children are studying at the school have confided to the school board that if Mr. Viet were to transfer his job somewhere, they would transfer their children to study with him. Sharing about this “happy story”, Mr. Viet confided that physical education teachers have their own characteristics. Therefore, from discovering a talented athlete to nurturing and taking them to competitions, it takes a very long process, sometimes up to 3 or 4 years.

During that time, because the circumstances of the students where he worked were mostly poor or near-poor, when they sent their children to him, the parents entrusted him with everything from studying, living to competing.

Later, some students had achievements and had opportunities to develop professionally, so their parents asked the teacher for advice and support. When the students went to the lowlands to study, because their parents were not familiar with transportation and did not speak Kinh clearly, they continued to ask the teacher for help. The relationship between teachers and students, between parents and teachers, therefore, no longer stopped at work but became as close as a family. In addition to the familiar name of Mr. Viet, many students called him father, considering him as a relative in the family.

Speaking more about teacher Tran Yen Viet, teacher Bui Thi Cuc - Principal of the school said: Teacher Viet is a very meticulous teacher, his lessons are always methodical and scientific. Moreover, teacher Viet is a very dedicated, responsible and devoted person to his profession. In our school, due to difficult conditions, there are no sports clubs, not many playgrounds for students. However, teacher Viet is still willing to teach students for free, considering students as his own children.

With his efforts, diligence and hard work, in 2024, after nearly 20 years of working with students and the teaching profession, Mr. Viet was honored to receive the titleNational Outstanding Teacher, awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Ministry of Education and Training.

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When I chose teaching as a career, I simply thought that it was a job I loved and wanted to stick with for a long time, and wanted to dedicate myself to the profession. Therefore, when I was selected and honored by the District Department of Education and Training, then the Department of Education and Training, I was very surprised.

I think that the happiest thing for a teacher is not only the titles but most importantly the students. How to help them have health, experience, skills to study, compete and be trained, mature, and become useful people for society is the happiest thing for me.

Teacher Tran Yen Viet