Stories about 'green uniform teachers'

The "sower of letters" in Khôn village

Khon village, La Mo commune, Gia Lai province is a newly established village, basic infrastructure such as electricity, roads, schools, stations have not been invested; people mainly live by growing short-term agricultural crops; customs and practices are backward, life is difficult. However, the good news is that the rate of illiteracy in Khon village is quite low.

This achievement was largely thanks to the dedication of Major Nguyen Van Luan - Captain of the Mass Mobilization Team, Ia Lop Border Guard Station, Gia Lai Provincial Border Guard. He was the one who directly opened the literacy class, taught people to read and write, calculate numbers, and learn many new knowledge.

The thought that not being able to read or write well is one of the reasons why the life of people in the border areas is always difficult. Major Nguyen Van Luan understands that if he wants to help people change their lives, he must first help them learn to read and write.

Thinking is doing, he boldly advised the Party Committee and the Command Board of Ia Lop Border Guard Station to deploy the model of "Illiteracy Eradication Class" in Khon village. The village is nearly 30km from the unit, the road is difficult to travel, but he and his teammates still went directly to each house to check, understand the thoughts and aspirations, and persistently encouraged people to participate in the class.

The results of the review and statistics show that in Khon village there are still 71 illiterate and re-illiterate people (100% are Jrai), accounting for more than 12% of the population, including 45 people aged 20 to 50. The positive point is that all people expressed their desire to attend literacy classes. From that reality, in April 2023, the "Literacy Class" model was officially deployed, opening up a journey of "sowing letters", lighting up faith and hope for a future of escaping poverty for the people of Khon village.

Identifying this as a key task in mass mobilization, Ia Lop Border Guard Station pays special attention to the organization and teaching stages to ensure the most effective classes. Major Nguyen Van Luan proposed organizing classes in batches, with 15 students per batch.

He is directly in charge of Math, while Lieutenant Colonel Vu Van Hoang - an employee of the Mass Mobilization Team is in charge of Vietnamese. The curriculum used is the illiteracy eradication learning material compiled by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), along with the Vietnamese and Math textbooks for primary school compiled and issued by the MOET .

Thus, from April 2023 to July 2024, Khôn village maintained literacy classes in the evening. Thanks to the lively teaching method, the class attracted a large number of participants. After more than a year of implementation, the class organized 144 sessions with a total of 432 periods (35 minutes/period), helping 45 people learn to read, write and do basic math.

This is an encouraging result, demonstrating the sense of responsibility and dedication of officers and soldiers of Ia Lop Border Guard Station in the journey of "sowing knowledge", improving people's knowledge, creating a foundation to promote socio-economic development in the area.

In particular, as the person directly opening the class, throughout the implementation process, Major Nguyen Van Luan has always been dedicated, researching and applying the knowledge he has been trained in, the customs and practices of each ethnic group in the area to apply to effective teaching. In addition to teaching, he also combines legal propaganda, popularizing practical contents such as: Vietnam Border Guard Law, Border Area Regulations, Marriage and Family Law, etc.

These activities not only help people improve their knowledge and legal awareness in border areas, but also build military-civilian solidarity, spreading the image of "green uniformed teachers" - a beautiful symbol of the Border Guard force in the hearts of the people.

With the above contributions, Major Nguyen Van Luan was trusted, supported, recognized and highly appreciated by the Party Committee, government and people of Khon village. In 2023, he was honored with the title of Advanced Soldier and was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee for his outstanding achievements in mass mobilization work in the province.

"Special" class on Truong Son mountain range

Sharing the mission of "sowing knowledge" in the border area, Captain Ho Van Huu - Head of the Mass Mobilization Team, Ba Tang Border Guard Station, Quang Tri Provincial Border Guard also devoted much effort to the literacy class in A Doi Commune, Quang Tri Province. Over the past 5 years, the class organized by border guards in coordination with women's cadres has helped many ethnic minorities learn to read and write.

As a Bru-Van Kieu ethnic person, Captain Ho Van Huu deeply understands the difficulties that ethnic minorities are facing. In the two mountainous communes of A Doi and Ba Tang (old), up to 90% of the population are ethnic minorities, mainly Van Kieu and Pa Ko people, whose material and spiritual life is still lacking. Meanwhile, educational facilities are still limited, significantly affecting the quality of education in the area, leading to low educational levels and high illiteracy rates.

A literacy class in A Doi commune taught by Captain Ho Van Huu.

In particular, through reviewing and conducting statistics in the two communes, Captain Ho Van Huu discovered that the number of illiterate women members was quite high, especially in A Doi Do village, A Doi commune, Huong Hoa district (old) with 43 households. Faced with that reality, in October 2021, he advised the Ba Tang Border Guard Station Command to develop a plan, coordinate with the People's Committee of the commune, the Women's Union of A Doi commune to conduct a survey, make a list and mobilize women to participate in "Illiteracy eradication" classes.

Classes are held in the evening from 7:15 pm to 9:15 pm at the village cultural house, this is a convenient time when many families have had dinner, women can feel secure to come to class. Each course lasts about 6 months, maintaining 3-4 sessions per week. After each class ends, another class follows, up to now the model has opened 7 classes, with 190 students participating. At the end of the class, women can read fluently, write fluently and do basic calculations within thousands.

After completing the "Illiteracy Eradication" classes, in March 2023, Captain Ho Van Huu continued to be trusted by the unit and local authorities to coordinate with local schools and the Women's Union of two communes to review and organize two "Illiteracy Eradication" classes for 115 students, mainly women and youth union members.

Teaching directly in class, Captain Ho Van Huu, along with staff from the Mass Mobilization Team and a number of Women's Union officials from the two communes, faced many difficulties: lack of facilities, equipment, and learning materials; most of the students worked in the fields, and in addition to studying in the evenings, they had no time to review at home; many of the students were old, so holding a pen, taking notes, or absorbing knowledge were all obstacles. Not to mention, natural disasters, unusual developments, especially the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, also affected teaching work.

However, thanks to the dedication of the staff, the efforts of the students, along with the attention of the unit commander and local authorities, the classes still completed their set goals. As a result, the local social learning movement was spread, the awareness level of the people was significantly improved, and the people were more confident in their daily life and communication.

With his continuous efforts in work and dedication to the people, Captain Ho Van Huu has been recognized with many noble awards and titles. These include: Vu A Dinh Award of the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in 2022, Certificates of Merit of the Border Guard Command (in 2021 and 2023), the title of Emulation Fighter in 2015, the title of Advanced Fighter in 2021 - 2023, 6 Certificates of Merit from the People's Committees of A Doi and Ba Tang communes (old), Certificates of Merit from the People's Committee of Quang Tri province, Certificates of Merit from the Department of Education and Training of Quang Tri province.

Major Nguyen Van Luan and Captain Ho Van Huu are two of the 80 outstanding teachers honored in the 2025 "Sharing with Teachers" Program. Along with that, there are eight other individuals from the Border Guard force who were also honored in this year's Program.

Held since 2015, the program "Sharing with teachers" organized by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Youth Union in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Training and Thien Long Group has honored 576 teachers who have made many contributions to the education cause.

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/chuyen-ve-nhung-thay-giao-quan-ham-xanh.html