Two schools Uncle Ho attended in Hue

From French-Vietnamese Dong Ba Primary School

In May 1906, Mr. Nguyen Sinh Huy went to Hue to take office after passing the Phó bảng exam, bringing Nguyen Tat Thanh along. After stopping studying at the French-native school in Vinh city, Nguyen Tat Thanh was asked to transfer to the French-Vietnamese Dong Ba Primary School.

Dong Ba French-Vietnamese Primary School was established in 1905, on the site of the old Dong Ba market hall. At first, the school was called "Thua Thien French-Vietnamese School". This was the first French-Vietnamese primary school in Hue. In 1923, the school was moved to the current location of Gia Hoi High School. The old location is now a flower garden on Phan Dang Luu Street, Dong Ba Ward, Hue City. The school consists of 10 rooms divided into 5 rooms, with tiled roofs. The main gate faces south, built of bricks, surrounded by a wall surrounding a large yard planted with Indian almond and candleberry trees. The order from the entrance gate is the first class, followed by the second class; third class; fourth class; nursery class and office. Each class has about 40 students.

Uncle Ho studied at the French-Vietnamese Dong Ba Primary School, second grade, school year 1906 - 1907 and first grade, school year 1907 - 1908. It is known that in the first years of studying here, students were taught in 3 languages: French, Chinese, Vietnamese. In the upper years, Chinese was limited. Subjects included French (mainly), Vietnamese, Chinese, math, history, geography, science , and drawing. Students from third grade and above could speak French. Uncle Ho's classmates included Le Thien, Phan Van Que, Nguyen Viet Nhuan, etc. Students at that time wore black ao dai, white pants made of silk, turbans, and wooden clogs.

During his time studying at the French-Vietnamese Dong Ba Primary School, in addition to studying at school, Nguyen Tat Thanh also frequently asked people to borrow books from the Library (where books and documents of the Nguyen Dynasty were stored) to read and broaden his knowledge. Thanh and his friends studied and discovered the contrast between real life and what was in books, especially the slogan "Liberty - Equality - Fraternity" that the French colonialists preached.

To the pink roof of Quoc Hoc school

In the 1908 primary school graduation exam, Nguyen Tat Thanh was one of the 10 best students of the French-Vietnamese Dong Ba Primary School who passed the exam to enter the second year of high school at Quoc Hoc School in the 1908-1909 school year. He participated in the anti-tax movement while he was a student of the French-Vietnamese Dong Ba Primary School in April 1908. Although he began to be monitored by the French colonialists, Nguyen Tat Thanh was still accepted to study at the school by the Principal of Quoc Hoc Chouquet.

Nguyen Tat Thanh entered the intermediate class, the second grade, at the Hue National School. In those years, the National School had two rows of thatched houses, brick walls, wooden pillars, and a two-story school gate. The teachers at the National School were both French and Vietnamese, including patriots like Mr. Hoang Thong and Mr. Le Van Mien. It was thanks to the influence of those patriotic teachers with progressive thinking that the desire to go to the West to learn about the situation of other countries and learn about the achievements of human civilization gradually formed and grew in Nguyen Tat Thanh's mind.

The year Nguyen Tat Thanh entered Quoc Hoc School was also the period when China's New Books were circulated in many places, especially among patriotic scholars. The reformist ideas of Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao awakened a large number of educated people. Thua Thien also had movements demanding reform through many forms of mobilization, including the short hair cutting movement. Nguyen Tat Thanh participated in that hair cutting movement. Outside of school hours, he also took scissors to the market and encouraged people to cut their hair.

Around the end of May and beginning of June 1909, Mr. Nguyen Sinh Huy was present in Binh Dinh to grade exams, then was appointed to the position of Dong Tri Phu and Binh Khe District Chief. Nguyen Tat Thanh left Quoc Hoc School, followed his father to Binh Dinh, continued to the South, and then to the West to find a way to save the country.

Preserve and promote heritage values

Currently, at the old school location, which is the campus of Dong Ba flower garden, Phan Dang Luu street, Dong Ba ward, Hue city, the Ho Chi Minh Museum of Thua Thien Hue has erected a memorial stele, preserving the mark of the period when President Ho Chi Minh studied at the French - Vietnamese Dong Ba Primary School. The historical site of the French - Vietnamese Dong Ba Primary School has been recognized as a provincial-level relic by the Provincial People's Committee in Decision No. 2460/QD-UBND dated October 28, 2008.

Quoc Hoc School, which left a mark on the excellent student Nguyen Tat Thanh in Hue, was recognized as a National Historical Relic on March 26, 1990. Notably, on December 31, 2020, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 2280/QD-TTg ranking the President Ho Chi Minh Relic System in Thua Thien Hue as a special National Historical Relic (including 4 relics previously ranked as National: Uncle Ho Memorial House on Mai Thuc Loan Street; Hue Quoc Hoc School Site; President Ho Chi Minh's Childhood Memorial House in Duong No Village and Duong No Village Communal House).

Quoc Hoc School has been repaired and rebuilt many times, but many documentary images of the school associated with the period when President Ho Chi Minh studied are always treasured by generations of teachers and students of the school. At the Memorial House of Uncle Ho and the tradition of Quoc Hoc Hue School, an enlarged photo of President Ho Chi Minh is hung solemnly with the monument and many images recording his years of revolutionary activities. In the middle of the school yard, the statue of student Nguyen Tat Thanh is placed in the most solemn position as a reminder to generations of students at Quoc Hoc to promote the spirit of studiousness and strive for their ideals in life.

The time was not much, but the years of studying at the French-Vietnamese Dong Ba Primary School as well as at the National School laid the first foundation for scientific awareness and thinking, from which Uncle Ho decided to go to the West to find a way to save the country.

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