Overcoming the cold to find words

(Baonghean) - This season in the remote highlands of Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Que Phong districts... is even colder. But despite the harsh weather, highland students still go to school regularly to learn. Achieving these things is not only thanks to the diligence and eagerness to learn of the students but also the encouragement and care of teachers, and the timely and correct policies to encourage learning of the Party and State.

HThese days, the Que Phong border district is covered in white fog, the cold, the chill seeping into the skin, numbing the skin. Driving on Highway 48, even though we were wearing warm clothes, we still couldn't help but sniffle and gasp, occasionally having to pull over to warm up at a fire burning on the side of the road. The frost combined with the fog means that in the early morning or late evening, vehicles must turn on their lights to avoid accidents. The cold weather makes people afraid to go out or work in the fields. However, at 6 am, hundreds of primary and secondary school students in the villages of Dong Van commune, Que Phong district were calling each other to go to school.

Previously, Dong Van Secondary School was located in Pieng Pung village. When Hua Na Hydropower Plant stored water, the school had to move to Dong Moi village with many shortages and difficulties. The school has been in operation for more than 2 years but still looks wild, the surrounding area is only covered by bamboo fences. However, overcoming many difficulties in terms of facilities and harsh weather of the mountainous region, teachers and students of Dong Van Secondary School still go to school regularly and always maintain teaching hours. Mr. Ho Si Quy - Vice Principal confided: "Now, no matter how cold or rainy the weather is, the students still come to school, they no longer skip school to go to exercise like before. Seeing the diligence and love of learning of the students, we teachers are very happy. The perception of studying here is gradually changing every day."

Dong Van commune is one of the difficult communes of the mountainous district of Que Phong, with rugged mountainous terrain, making it very difficult for students to travel to school, especially during the rainy and cold season. There are villages such as Khun Na and Pu Khong that are dozens of kilometers away from the commune People's Committee center and school, but with the spirit of learning, students in these two villages still diligently go to school every day.

Most of the children's families are poor, their livelihoods mainly depend on farming, so they lack clothes and books for school. Many children still wear thin clothes to school in this cold weather, some children wear their uniforms every day of the week because they don't have warm clothes. Teacher Lang Van Bon confided: "People's lives are still difficult, food is hard to come by, let alone clothes. Seeing the children shivering in thin clothes at school, the teachers feel very sorry. This winter, the school has also had a program to mobilize staff and teachers to help children in especially difficult circumstances have warm clothes to go to school."

Early morning, cold, fog covered the path in the Dong Van mountains. Innocent eyes with a thirst for knowledge still diligently went to school. Perhaps never before have people seen education valued as much as in this poor, rugged mountainous area. Wearing only two thin shirts, Lo Thanh Ha got up at cockcrow to go to school. The distance from Khun Na village to school is very far and steep, she had to leave early to be on time for school. Seeing her go to school, with drops of night dew still on her eyelids, her hands numb from the cold, everyone must have sympathized and felt sorry for her. However, when talking to us, she smiled warmly: "Going to school in the cold season is harder, but we are determined not to miss a single day. My parents told me to study hard, and soon we will sell a few hundred kilos of corn and cassava on the field to have money to buy warm clothes for me."

Although Dong Van Secondary School currently has 113 students enjoying the semi-boarding regime and 22 students enjoying the boarding regime, this school has not yet been recognized as a semi-boarding ethnic minority school. The reason is due to the lack of facilities, only classrooms but no boarding houses for students, teachers, kitchen, or toilet system. Being a semi-boarding student but not being able to eat or stay at school also causes many difficulties and inconveniences for students, especially in the cold winter like this. "Some students who have the conditions stay in the villages near the school, while some have to travel back and forth during the day, which is very difficult. We hope to soon receive the attention of the Party Committee and the government so that in the future, there will be a stable place for students to eat and stay for them to study better" - Mr. Ho Si Quy added.

From the commune center, we traveled dozens of kilometers of winding, dangerous roads to reach Dong Van 1 Primary School. While walking, the Vice Chairman of the commune, Kim Ngoc Chien, introduced to us: “The school has been moved here for several years but still has no electricity; water has to be asked from surrounding households, teachers' housing is still cramped, in general, the facilities are still lacking and difficult. But the good thing is that the teachers are still diligently sticking to the class and school every day to sow knowledge for the children here. We respect and remember the teachers' contributions very much.

Our first impression when we arrived was a small school perched precariously on a hill, surrounded by mountains, forests, and bamboo. The wild and poor appearance made the cold of winter even more bitter. However, as soon as we stepped into the school gate, the students' "e.. a" studying sounds echoed regularly and loudly, dispelling the cold. Vice Principal Sam Van Hoa said: "This mountainous area is very harsh, the students have to go to school many times harder. The main school like this is still better, but the remote schools have even more difficulties for teachers and students, it's impossible to tell them all. However, thanks to the State's caring policies and the encouragement of teachers, in recent years there have been no more dropouts, the students attend class very diligently."

Seeing strangers, heads tilted, mouths smiling, cheeks red from the cold. Lang Thi Yen - class 4A happily said: "My house is very far away so I have to get up early in the morning to go to school. This season, my parents said they only have money to buy me a sweater, the warm clothes have to wait until next year's corn season. It's cold on the road but it's warm in the classroom so I still study well, uncle." Looking at the warm, innocent smile of the child, all the cold and fog of the mountainous region suddenly disappeared.

All year round, the top of Phuxailaileng Mountain - the highest mountain in Nghe An province, located in the border area of ​​Ky Son district, is covered in clouds. When winter comes, the cold here becomes even more terrible. When we got there, it was past noon but the sun was not visible, thick clouds covered everywhere, just standing a few meters apart we could not see each other's faces clearly. However, when entering Na Ngoi Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, every class was crowded, the sound of studying was bustling and energetic. Although he is from the lowlands, for more than 30 years, Mr. Nguyen The Hien - the school's principal has been attached to this remote borderland. More than 30 years of teaching are also more than 30 winters that he had to go through alone. “Winter in the mountainous areas, especially in Ky Son district, is very harsh. During the day, it is bearable, but at night the cold penetrates the skin and makes the skin numb. However, the staff, teachers and students in the school still attend class regularly, there is no case of skipping school or dropping out. To sow knowledge in this land, it is not possible in a day or two, but sometimes one has to dedicate and sacrifice one’s whole life to the cause of educating people” - Mr. Hien confided.

Students of Na Ngoi Ethnic Boarding School (Ky Son) go to school.

The school has 411 students, of which 318 are semi-boarding students, meaning that they live 7 km or more from the school, so studying and traveling during the rainy season and winter is very difficult. However, for nearly a year now, the school has organized meals for the students, so they have less trouble, no longer having to brave the cold and wade through the forest to get rice, fish sauce and salt like before. Vu Ba Cu, class 6A, a Mong ethnic, happily said: "My house is very far away, I have to cross dozens of streams and slopes to get home. But now the school cooks meals, I no longer have to go back and forth like before. The food the teachers cook is delicious, we all go to school diligently to eat." Vu Ba Cu's confidences are very innocent but very real. If your stomach is hungry and your hands are shaking, you cannot learn to read and write, you have to eat to get your head full. Therefore, in recent years, thanks to the attention of the Party and the State, and policies to encourage education in mountainous areas, the dropout rate in the Western Nghe An region has decreased significantly.

The school has a large number of students, so many of them have to rent rooms outside, some of them have their parents build a hut for them to stay in right next to the school. The thatched houses are low, damp, and fragile, and when winter comes, it gets even colder. Therefore, many of the children sleep together in huts to keep warm, some huts have up to ten children. Vu Ba Dia, a student from class 6C, pointed to his hut and told us: "There are 8 of us in this hut. Winter is very cold, so the more people stay, the warmer it gets. In summer, we move some of us out. My house is half a day away, so I only come back on weekends and go back to school on Monday morning."

In the precarious villages of the highlands of Nghe An, every day, Mong, Thai, Kho Mu students still brave the cold and harsh winter to go to school. Their diligence and hard work will certainly be rewarded with letters and knowledge to change the poverty and hardship in the remote highlands. But right now, students in the highland districts of Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Que Phong... need sharing and care from the community, society, agencies, departments and branches. Small gifts such as shoes and warm clothes will help them overcome the cold to go to school and study better.

Trieu Duong