Sowing letters in the highlands of Xim Vang

Pa Hoc village is located in the middle of the jungle.

It was early autumn but in the highlands of Xim Vang, the weather was already cold as if winter was about to arrive. The rain the afternoon before made the children's way to school even more difficult. Ho Thi Chi, a first grader, and her father crossed more than 3 km of mountain roads and through the forest every morning to get to class. Her luggage was an old, faded school bag, inside of which were only a few thin notebooks, a short pencil, a worn eraser, and a lunch box containing a simple meal. There were days when her parents couldn't take her to class, Chi and her friends had to climb many steep slopes, the plastic sandals had broken straps and couldn't hold on, so they took them off and climbed barefoot. Yet their laughter still chirped, echoing like the birds in the forest.

Chi said, her black eyes shining with innocence: “I love going to school, meeting friends, teachers, reading books. I’m not afraid of going far away.” That joy is simple but sacred, because for her, going to school is a journey to overcome the harshness of the mountains and forests.

Binh Minh Hang Chu Kindergarten, Xim Vang Commune.

Pa Hoc school currently has 2 kindergarten classes, with 40 children and 14 students in grade 1. The facilities here are still lacking. Due to the complex terrain and limited land fund, both schools had to be built on a plot of land of more than 1,000 m², without a playground for students. Teacher Song A Lu, a teacher at Hang Chu Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, Xim Vang commune, shared: The school does not have a toilet facility, nor does it have a public house for teachers. Particularly in the highlands, people often go to the fields early, and their children's education depends entirely on teachers. Therefore, teaching here faces many difficulties.

Primary school is hard, but preschool is even harder. Most of the households here are poor, with inadequate facilities, so almost all the burden falls on the teachers. Ms. Mua Thi Vang, who lives in Pa Cu Sang village, 8 km from the school, has been involved in Xim Vang highland classes for 5 years. Ms. Vang said: I have to leave at 6 am to get to class on time. My class has 18 children of kindergarten age, but I am the only one in charge. There is a lack of teachers and school supplies, so I almost have to feed the children at mealtimes. The school currently has two classrooms, but there are no toilets for teachers; the public housing uses old classrooms. Every year, the school has to ask for support from volunteer groups with clothes, books, and school supplies for the children, especially when the harsh winter is approaching.

In Xim Vang, teachers are likened to “torches” in the mountains and forests. Many have to travel hundreds of kilometers away from their families to live with the locals and teach children. Some teachers have to stay in class for weeks or months because the mountain roads are cut off every time it rains or is windy. A typical example is teacher Song A Lu, a son of Suoi Lenh village, Xim Vang commune. When he was young, he also studied in a bamboo classroom, many of his friends dropped out of school because of hunger and the long distance. But A Lu was determined to study to the end, to become a teacher and return to teach the children of his hometown. Mr. Lu said: “I want the children to have a brighter path, not to repeat the difficulties of our generation.” People like Mr. Lu, Ms. Vang... have chosen to stick with and sacrifice their youth for the cause of spreading knowledge. They are the silent soldiers, keeping the fire of knowledge alive in the most difficult conditions.

In Xim Vang, poverty and hardship still cast a shadow over every house. Many children go to school in the morning and in the afternoon follow their parents to the fields, down to the stream to catch fish and collect firewood. A simple lunch consists of rice balls with sesame salt, a piece of dried fish or a few wild vegetables. However, no child has ever thought of dropping out of school, because in their hearts, letters are still a flame of hope.

Teacher Song A Lu guides students in writing.

On the first day of school, when teachers handed over new notebooks and new shirts donated by kind-hearted people, many children hugged them tightly to their chests as if they were treasures. In the evening, under the dim light, children huddled around their desks. Some children took advantage of their time in the fields to sit diligently at their old wooden tables, carefully doing each calculation. Poverty could not extinguish their dream of studying; on the contrary, it made the light of knowledge even more precious in their lives.

Currently, in Xim Vang there are 11 separate kindergartens; 7 primary schools; of which 6 kindergartens, 2 primary schools still have difficulties in facilities, one is 30 kilometers from the commune center. In recent years, thanks to the attention of the State and the Education and Training sector, Xim Vang commune has been invested in more boarding classrooms, warm clothes, and lunch support for students, but the distance between the center and the highlands is still far.

Teachers and students of Pa Hoc kindergarten.

Mr. Ngo Van Huynh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Xim Vang Commune, affirmed: The commune continues to consider education as a key task, focusing resources on improving schools, building boarding houses, kitchens for students in mountainous areas; taking care of teachers' lives, training more local teachers. The commune coordinates with sectors and organizations to maintain student numbers, limit dropouts; at the same time, hopes to receive the cooperation of organizations, businesses and philanthropists, helping Xim Vang's children have better learning conditions, towards a bright future.

In the late afternoon, the golden sunlight spreads over the mountain slopes. For the teachers, each child here is a seed of hope, sown in poor soil to grow into a tree of knowledge in the future. The sound of the Xim Vang school drum echoes among the vast clouds and mountains, as if reminding them of the mission of keeping the “light of letters” shining forever in the sky.

Source: https://baosonla.vn/khoa-giao/soeo-chu-noi-vung-cao-xim-vang-GBFcKtjNR.html