Teacher Nguyen Tien Anh atThu Lum
Secondary School in Muong Te District keeps
two pupils from the Ha Nhi ethnic group,
Ly Khu Xa and Chu Phu Pha in his home
to feed and teach them.

The hamlets of ethnic groups, such as the Thai, La Hu, Dao, Mong are situated on the mountain sides above the Da River in Lai Chau Province. Among the vast green colour of the mountains and forests in this area schools have been built. Although the hamlets do not have electricity, the schools have lightened the people’s belief.

Difficulties of teaching in mountainous areas

The sole road, over 300km long running from Lai Chau Town to Thu Lum Secondary  School in Thu Lum Commune of Muong Te District in the westernmost area of the country seems longer because it runs between high mountain cliffs and the fierce Da River. It took us two days to go by car along this road with innumerable pot holes to reach the school.

Teachers Nguyen Bich Thanh and Nguyen Thi Hanh prepare to pass the mountain to go to Pa U Secondary School in Muong Te District.	Teacher Tran Thi Hong Thuy takes children from different hamlets to Lang Mo nursery school in Lang Mo Commune, Sin Ho District.

Thu Lum Primary School lies on the top of a mountain at the elevation of 2,000 metres above sea level. According to Principal Tran Quang Trang, the School has 32 classes of different grades with 443 pupils of Ha Nhi and Dao ethnic groups, but there are only eight solid classrooms and three simple classrooms. The 19 remaining classrooms are thatched cottages. Thu Lum Commune has three hamlets of which U Ma Tu Khoong hamlet near the Vietnam-China border is the farthest from the centre of the commune. Even taking the shortest way of going through the forest, it takes the pupils more than half a day to reach the school. As the people’s living conditions are difficult and their knowledge level is low, it is very difficult to encourage the children in this hamlet to go to school. Often it’s left up to the teachers to visit each home in the hamlet to persuade the families to send their children to school. They also take this opportunity to learn the languages of the ethnic groups. To lessen the pupils’ difficulties, some teachers bring them to their home to feed and teach them. In the last school year, nine teachers of the School kept one or two pupils at their home.

Not all schools have electricity and there is lack of water and living quarters for the teachers and boarding pupils. Each hamlet has one or two teachers. They can not access the information system and must work under the light of an oil lamp.

Lu Pham Xe, Deputy Principal of Ka Lang Secondary School confided: “What the teachers are most afraid of are illness and diseases. There are very few doctors here. There is no medicine, so illness and disease are worrisome”. Last year, young teacher Dang Thi Thuong was working in U Ma Tu Khoong Hamlet of Thu Lum Commune. She contracted malaria and had to be carried on a hammock to the commune’s infirmary for treatment.

Although suffering many difficulties, the teachers at the schools in this westernmost area have a great love for their career. Teacher Nguyen Thi Hong Nhung volunteered to leave her native home near the Da River to go to Seo Hai Hamlet in Kan Ho Commune to teach at Kan Ho Primary School, bringing knowledge to the Si La ethnic children. Teacher Nguyen Thi Phuong at Thu Lum Secondary School, a native of Hai Duong Province , wished to go to the farthest hamlet to devote her energy to the educational cause. Teacher Tran Van Lam at Pac Ma Secondary School, a native of Ha Tay Province, has been connected with the Ha Nhi, Thai and La Hu ethnic people for six years to encourage them to send their children to school. His devotion to his career and sharing joys and sorrows with his colleagues helps him overcome all difficulties and challenges. Everyday, he teaches at school in the morning, and in the afternoon he goes to the mountain to grow vegetables and tend chicken to improve the living standards in the area. The teachers’ work has inspired the children to strive for a better future.

Dream from mountains

The images on children with a thirst for learning in Sin Ho Plateau, Sin Ho District have left the deepest impression on me. Pu Dao Secondary School in Pu Dao Commune is not a boarding school, but because the hamlets are situated far from the centre of the commune, the school reserved a plot of land to build a row of houses for day-boarders. The houses include five apartments made of bamboo and thatched leaves. According to teacher Tong Thi Thanh Nuong, for four years now these houses have been the homes to hundreds of primary and secondary pupils coming from remote areas or from families with difficulties.

I came to the houses at lunch time while the students were eating. They greeted me with an ethnic voice. On weekends, they return to their families then carry rice and salt back to the school. They cook the meals together and sleep together. In the evening they learn under the light of the oil lamps. Living far from their families, they lack family’s affection and necessities, but they always try to learn and dream of a bright future. Mua A Thu, a ninth grader said that he lived in Nam Dac Hamlet, 15km away from the school, but he tried to go to school and dreamt of becoming a teacher to educate the Mong ethnic people. In the past, it took Vu A Long, a sixth grader from the Mong ethnic group in Nam Pi Hamlet, six hours a day to trek back and forth from school, but now he lives at the school. He wishes to become a journalist so as he can travel to all parts of the country.

I also visited Pa Tan No.1 Primary School near the Vietnam-China border. The whole school was quiet because the pupils were in the first period of the day. Attending a Vietnamese language lesson in class 4A taught by teacher Nguyen Thi Quyen, I was not only impressed by the pupils’ bright eyes looking attentively at each line of letters written by the teacher on the blackboard, but also amazed at the skilful handwriting and beautiful notebooks of the pupils. Dieu Thi Hanh, a Thai ethnic pupil sitting in a front row desk, who is an excellent pupil at district level, said: “In the future, I want to become a doctor to treat diseases in poor people”.

Most pupils of Pa Tan No. 1 Primary School come from the Thai and Mong ethnic families with difficult living conditions and low knowledge level. Entering the first form, many children can not speak the common language well. In the past three years, the School had 14 excellent pupils at district level. Principal Dang Ngoc Hung said: “Thanks to the teachers’ encouragement and assistance, the pupils are now aware of the role of study. Good scholastic achievements have stirred their ambitions and dreams, lighten their hearts and aroused their belief and love for life”.

Believing in the bright future

During a talk on improving the quality of education in the mountainous areas, Thai Van Vinh, former Director of Lai Chau Province’s Education and Training Department, said: “While many schools in the province still have difficulties and lack materials, the system of boarding schools for the ethnic children shows the special attention of the State to the educational system for ethnic people”. He also said that with the State’s funding, the ethnic children can study and broaden their knowledge. To be an affective educational outlet in Lai Chau Province , the schools must be located near the people’s residential area, the classes must be near the hamlet and the teachers must be close to the families.

We visited the Ethnic Boarding School in Muong Te District when the school was preparing for the new school year of 2008-2009. After 20 years of establishment and development of the school, many students have matured and become carders and teachers, supplementing the provincial contingent of teachers. In the 2007-2008 school year, the school enrolled 300 students from 10 ethnic groups. Its operation and development have annually improved, encouraging the students’ thirst for learning. The quality of education has improved obviously. The teachers are enthusiastic about their roles and many of them have become excellent teachers at district and province levels. Very few students drop out of school. The graduation rate is 95% and above and most of students continue to study at higher levels.

For many years, the school has delivered excellent students at district level, notable among them are Po Vu Thanh Binh from the Si La ethnic group, Ly Phi Po from the Ha Nhi ethnic group and Ly Thi May from the Mong ethnic group. The students’ achievements have changed the awareness of the children’s parents, encouraging them and making them believe in the school and their children. Pupil Ly Thi May confided: “Learning at this school, I feel very proud. I will try my best in learning to achieve the best results”. Her impressive words stick with me. She is privileged to have had teachers who have equipped her and others with knowledge to strive for a better life.

Story by Tuan Long -
Photos by Trong Chinh, Le Minh, Xuan Truong
(Vietnam Pictorial)