23-year-old teacher leaves the city for the village, bringing education to students in the highlands

(Dan Tri) - Having just graduated from the Pedagogy major, teacher Thanh Nga immediately sent a long text message to her family, earnestly expressing her desire to leave the bustling city and bring letters to disadvantaged students in a mountainous village.

Bowls of rice full of smiles and tears

At 5am, Sung Mang commune (Tuyen Quang province) was still covered in cold fog. Teacher Dam Thi Thanh Nga (23 years old, from Thai Nguyen city) woke up, got ready, lit the stove, and cooked rice to bring to lunch.

On the path leading to school, groups of students were already trotting to school. In the cold fog, many of them did not have warm clothes to wear, some were barefoot. Feeling sorry for her students, Ms. Nga was moved to tears. She said that she and many other teachers always arrived at the classroom very early, waiting at the gate to take the students to their seats.

“Although the school is quite far away, most of the teachers try to arrive early. Because most of the students’ parents go to work at dawn, the children have to walk to school by themselves at a very young age. If the teachers do not come to open the door, the children will have to wait outside in the cold weather,” Ms. Thanh Nga shared.

The female teacher currently works at Ta Cha Lang school and Sung Tra kindergarten. In the highlands, in addition to teaching, it has become a familiar part of the work for teachers to take turns going to the lowland market to get each kilo of meat and bunch of vegetables for their students' meals.

So every morning, Ms. Nga and her colleagues drive dozens of kilometers of mountain roads, carrying kilos of meat, fish, and vegetables back to school.

Ms. Thanh Nga is a teacher of a combined class of 34 students aged 3-5. In addition to imparting knowledge, culture and skills, Ms. Nga is also responsible for teaching Kinh language.

“100% of the students in the class are Mong ethnic people. Their parents make a living by farming, and are all from poor families, some of whom are still teenagers. The school and local authorities always pay attention and have support policies. For example, the children go to school without tuition fees and receive additional subsidies. This is also one of the reasons why families are motivated to send their children to school,” she said.

In the eyes of the female teacher, the children are understanding, well-behaved and love to go to school. Although they are disadvantaged compared to their lowland counterparts in terms of facilities and learning tools, they always show enthusiasm.

The most touching time is during lunchtime. Even though they eat twice as much rice as other children their age, they always finish it all without being reminded by their teacher.

“In many cases, parents do not care, at the beginning of the new school year or after holidays, they often let their children drop out of school. The teachers and village officials have to go to their homes to persuade them to go back to school,” Ms. Nga said.

The journey is not lonely

Previously, Thanh Nga was a student at Thai Nguyen Provincial Pedagogical College. Thinking that she would start a stable career in her hometown, Nga suddenly changed direction after a trip to a mountainous village in Tuyen Quang province.

“I am very impressed with the scenery and people here. I myself was troubled when witnessing the children living in difficult and deprived circumstances. This left me with many emotions, making me think about leaving the city to go to the village and contribute some effort to take care of the children,” Ms. Nga said.

At that time, her family strongly opposed.

At midnight, the female teacher could not sleep. She decided to write a long text message, expressing her feelings and hoping for her parents' support. After many confiding sessions, her parents finally understood and allowed her to fulfill her wish.

When she first arrived in the village, the biggest challenge for the young teacher was not only the lack of facilities, but also the language barrier. The class was full of Mong children who could not understand or speak Kinh, while Ms. Nga did not know Mong.

“I teach in Kinh, but the students don’t understand, and vice versa, when the students speak, I don’t understand either. I feel so helpless,” Ms. Nga confided.

But instead of being discouraged, Thanh Nga started learning Mong from her colleagues, even from her own students. Taking advantage of every free hour, she practiced speaking the most basic words to be able to communicate with the children. Thanks to that, after much effort, the combined class in the mountainous area of ​​the teacher and students finally found a "common voice".

Working here since the beginning of the new school year, Ms. Nga confided that she has “accumulated” many precious memories. The female teacher remembers Nam the most, a smart and agile little student.

Nam's parents work far away so the two brothers stay at home with their grandmother. Nam's situation is very difficult, and his house is far from school. Every time his grandmother comes to pick him up, she has to spend a lot of time walking. So the two brothers are always the last to leave school.

“The teachers often choose to stay and see Nam and his brothers off. It rained heavily the past few days and they had to wait longer than usual. Although the children were worried, they were still very well-behaved and didn’t cry, which made the teachers feel more secure,” said the female teacher.

Another time, Ms. Nga witnessed a little student sobbing during a meal because he missed his parents. His brother, who was about the same age as him, put his arms around him to comfort him, saying, “Don’t cry, we can eat at school today,” which made Ms. Nga burst into tears.

“The happy smiles of the children when they can study, eat, and sleep well are the great motivation for teachers like us to stay here,” Nga said with a smile.

Ms. Ha Thi Xuyen, a teacher working at Ta Cha Lang school, Sung Tra kindergarten, shared that although she has only worked at the school since the beginning of the school year and does not have much experience, Ms. Thanh Nga has quickly become familiar with the work and environment here. Ms. Nga is a quick, active and sociable person.

"I see that she loves the children very much, always tries and is enthusiastic in taking care of the students at school," Ms. Xuyen added.

She herself was moved when teachers like Thanh Nga accepted to pursue the dream of bringing letters to students in difficult circumstances.

Photo: Character provided

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/co-giao-23-tuoi-bo-pho-len-ban-mang-con-chu-den-hoc-tro-vung-cao-20250923122232485.htm