The dream of a poor Khmu student who achieved the highest score in a school in a border area

From the district center, we traveled nearly 40 km of steep road, spending nearly 3 hours by motorbike to find Mong Van Duong's house living in Nhat Nhoong village, Nam Nhoong commune (Que Phong). In the small, old stilt house, Duong's parents could not hide their happiness when they knew their songot the highest score in schoolin the last exam.

Being the eldest child in a poor family of 4 siblings. Despite being extremely poor, Duong's parents still tried to send their 4 children to school. They thought that after 9th grade, Duong would drop out of school to help his parents take care of his 3 younger siblings, but with his diligence, hard work and love of learning, Duong asked his parents to let him go to the district school to continue his studies. Loving their son, Duong's parents worked hard to save a little money to send to their son every month. Each month, Duong was sent less than 200,000 VND, but for him, that was the hard-earned money of his parents, so he spent it frugally and did not dare to buy a new shirt for himself.

Mong Van Duong lives in Nhat Nhoong village, Nam Nhoong commune (Que Phong). Photo: NVCC

During the 3 years of studying at Que Phong District High School, Duong has always been a good and diligent student, although his academic performance was not outstanding compared to his friends, even in the 10th and 11th grades he was not a good student, but in return he was a diligent student, gentle and sociable with teachers and friends. Also because of his difficult family circumstances, the school arranged for him to stay in the school dormitory, thanks to this, it created good conditions for him to have the opportunity to study,pursue your dreamsmine

Talking to us, Duong's parents, Mr. Mong Van Tung and Ms. Vi Thi Binh, always had smiles on their faces, but they could not hide the worry on their haggard faces.

Duong's mother shared: "Previously, neither my husband nor I had the opportunity to study, so we only hoped that all our children would be literate. Now, seeing my son achieve such results, I am very happy. Even though our family really does not have enough money to send him to the city to study, if he wants to continue, my husband and I will still support him. We only hope that there will be benefactors who care and help my son realize his dream."

Duong's house in the poor village of Que Phong district. Photo: Luong Nga

Share the secret to getting high scores inKNational High School Exam, Duong said, the last exam was very suitable for him, after finishing the test he still had time to check his work. When leaving the exam room and grading himself, Duong thought he would pass but did not think he would get such a high score, especially with10 pointsCivic Education. “Because at school I was trained and polished very carefully, the teachers were very attentive, especially the homeroom teacher who always closely followed us, found many good questions and encouraged us to be determined to realize our ambitions. Outside of class and exam review hours, I often looked for questions online, did them myself and then sent them to the teachers for correction,” Duong confided.

Hope Van Duong always dreams of going to university. Photo: NVCC

With a score of 7.5 in Literature, 9.25 in History, 9.5 in Geography and 10 in Civics, Duong is confident that he will be admitted to Vinh University, but due to his family's difficult circumstances, with 3 younger siblings still in school, Duong does not know where to get the money to pay tuition and cover living expenses.

Confiding in us, teacher Nguyen Xuan Quang - Duong's homeroom teacher said: "Duong is a very good student, always polite to teachers, sociable with friends, especially he studies very hard. Although his family is in difficult circumstances, each month his parents only give him 100 to 200 thousand VND for food, but he has a very strong will so teachers and friends all love him, always create conditions to help him.

I am quite surprised by your achievements today. Although I know your circumstances are very difficult, I hope you are determined to fulfill your dream."

Please send any help to:

Em Mong Van Duong - Nhat Nhoong village, Nam Nhoong commune (Que Phong); Phone number: 0825.778.485