Editor's note:

There are stories about teachers that are silent but forever kept in our hearts - from thoughtful advice, encouraging eyes to simple, meaningful lessons. On the occasion of Vietnamese Teachers' Day November 20, VietNamNet respectfully introduces to readers the forum "Simple stories about teachers" - to share profound memories, unforgettable experiences with the 'ferrymen'.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Khang, from Nghe An, was one of the first batch of students specializing in Mathematics in Vietnam in 1965. In 1968, he studied at Hanoi University, Faculty of Physics, and was the deputy class president in a class of 275 people. When he graduated, his class had only more than 70 people left because many students had to go to the battlefield, holding guns as soldiers when they were close to graduation...

Teacher Khang said that he was not lucky enough to go to the battlefield because his eyesight and health were not up to standard, otherwise he would have gone to war like other classmates. After graduating from the Physics department, he was retained at the school, teaching Physics for the Mathematics specialized high school, the University of General Sciences - where many students won the International Mathematics Olympiad from the first batch such as Hoang Le Minh, Dam Thanh Son, Ngo Bao Chau... He called it fate, a lucky thing in his teaching career.

In his memory, a specialized class he taught had only about 20 students, selected very strictly from the provinces. Most of the students were very poor, but in a class of 25 students he was in charge of, 24 of them qualified for scholarships to study abroad.

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Teacher Nguyen Xuan Khang. Photo: Thach Thao.

"At that time, I was very poor, the poorest of the poor at the university. I only had one set of clothes that were intact when I went to the podium. So I washed them at night and wore them in the morning, so in the memories of many students, I only had that one set of clothes," Mr. Khang recalled.

The teacher is poor, the students are also poor. Teacher Khang always remembers the time when he taught Physics, in charge of a small laboratory, 2 students unlocked the room and stole things. Hearing another student report the news, the teacher said: "Don't tell anyone yet, let me check it out." The next day, the teacher checked and found out that some small things like children's toys, which had no economic value, were missing. The teacher quietly met the 2 students who stole:

- Did you get the things from my lab?

Yes sir, we are sorry sir.

- Where are those things?

Yes, I'm at home.

- Are you bored yet? Can you give it back to me?

- Yes, teacher, please let us bring it in tomorrow.

Then the story reached the faculty leader. The student was accused of “stealing property”, and the teacher “covered up” the student’s crime.

The disciplinary council met and invited the parents of the two students who stole the items. During the meeting, the teacher said: "On the surface, this is a 'theft', but in essence it is not. Because the stolen items have no economic value, no one would buy them, the students were curious and took them home to play with each other and returned them in full. In the end, I am half at fault for not letting the students see them. I would like to bail them out so they can continue studying here." The parents cried, the students also cried and promised to study hard and not repeat the offense.

Those two students continued to study in the specialized math class and at the end of the year went to study abroad in Germany. Now they are both successful and famous people.

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For Mr. Khang, what is more important than teaching knowledge is teaching how to be a good person. Photo: Thach Thao.

Until now, the memories with his former students are still vivid in the 75-year-old teacher's mind. After many years of struggling with education, Mr. Khang now confidently affirms that he is no longer poor. Not simply money, but the greatest asset he has is the special students, those he reached out to embrace when society was gradually rejecting them.

Teaching and imparting knowledge is a must, but for Mr. Khang, there is something more important: teaching his students how to be human, how to live, and how to behave. His life and career have clearly demonstrated the spirit of altruisticeducation , for students and for society of teachers. That image has been and is inspiring many generations of students and people of Hanoi.

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