A day begins at 5 a.m. at the school for students in the highlands.

Without needing anyone to wake them up, at exactly 5:00 AM, more than 330 students from grades 1 to 9 of Trung Leng Ho Semi-Boarding Primary and Secondary School spontaneously woke up, neatly folded their blankets and sheets, and then went to the bathroom to wash up and do exercises. Many of them are used to being away from home, so they are quite independent in communal living. They do not depend on adults and have to "manage" everything in their daily lives on their own.

Ly Thi Dua (7th grade) is one of the students at Trung Leng Ho Semi-Boarding Primary and Secondary School whose family suffered heavy losses after the floods nearly two months ago. Dua's father, the village head of Trung Ho (Trung Leng Ho commune), died while helping people move their belongings from landslide-affected areas. After mourning her father, Dua recovered and returned to her studies and life at the boarding school with her friends.

Mr. Vu Ngoc Anh, Vice Principal of Trung Leng Ho Semi-Boarding Primary and Secondary School, said that students in mountainous areas are generally very independent. “If you visit any family during harvest season, you’ll usually find only the children eating and playing by themselves. Older children, around grades 5 and 6, have already gone to the fields with their parents to work. Children in mountainous areas are accustomed to being friends with the mountains and hills from a young age,” he said.

Every day, the school assigns teachers to supervise the boarding students. These teachers are responsible for guiding the students in general tasks. They often assist first and second graders who have just left home and are not yet accustomed to the new routine. Additionally, students assigned to serve meals wake up earlier and carry rice and food to each table.

The remaining students will take their bowls and line up to wait for breakfast. During breakfast, the middle school students will eat first, while the elementary school students will wait to eat afterward.

Elementary school students' breakfasts usually start a little after 6 a.m. The meal typically consists of two dishes, such as soup and boiled eggs, along with a shared pot of rice. The children excitedly invite their teachers and friends to eat, eagerly anticipating their first meal of the day. The sounds of chopsticks and spoons scraping against aluminum trays fill the air.

While in the city, many first-grade students still need their parents' care and coaxing to eat, here, the children eat very quickly, sometimes finishing their meal in just 10 minutes without any prompting. Almost every meal is completely finished, with only a little rice and food left on the table. "Only after the storms and floods, when there are many sweets and treats from visiting relatives and friends, do the children 'not enjoy their meals,' so the teachers see the rice pot still full after the meal. Normally, the children eat heartily and very quickly," shared teacher Vu Ngoc Anh.

After eating, students, regardless of age, voluntarily take their bowls to wash them. The Trung Lèng Hồ Semi-Boarding Primary and Secondary School has 20 classes, including 12 primary classes and 8 secondary classes. Most of the boarding students are from grade 3 upwards; most of the grade 1-2 students attend three separate school locations in the villages. Currently, the school has 5-6 boarding students in grades 1-2, usually because they have older siblings living there or because the villages have too few students to open separate school locations.

After meals, the students who have cleaning duty will get together and go to class early to sweep the schoolyard, stairs, and classrooms…

When the school bell rang, students rushed into their classrooms, beginning the first lesson of the day. Pictured is Sung Duc Nham, a fifth-grade student. Nham doesn't stay at the boarding school but goes home because his house is near the school. Nham lives with his two older sisters; his father passed away early, and his mother works far away, only returning a few times a year.

Teacher Tan Chiep Chiem is of the Dao ethnic group. Having also come from the mountainous region and having studied far from home, living in boarding schools since childhood, she understands the hardships of her students and always encourages them to study hard. “Because their parents are still struggling, the children may not have the best conditions, their clothes may not be new, and they may have little pocket money, but at school they are well-fed, warmly clothed, and receive a proper education,” she shared.

After two sessions of classes, activities, and meals at school, in the evening, starting at 8 PM, boarding students will voluntarily return to class to review and do homework together. The teachers who remain at school also take turns assisting the students in managing the class and providing additional guidance on their studies.

“The children here are very well-behaved and affectionate. The night before last, some of the girls peeked outside my room and shyly handed me handwritten letters and handmade postcards. Having been so close to the students both in class and in their daily lives at the boarding school, I miss them and love them very much now that they're gone,” shared Ms. Ban Thi Tuoi, a teacher who had worked at this school for 12 years, 7 months, and 10 days before transferring at the beginning of this school year.

Teachers waded through mud for two hours carrying potatoes and rice back to school, while female teachers stayed up all night watching over their students after the storm and floods. A week after the flash floods, students in Bat Xat, Lao Cai, were gradually brought back to school by their teachers after being cut off and isolated for many days due to landslides.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/mot-ngay-bat-dau-tu-5-gio-sang-tai-truong-cua-hoc-sinh-vung-cao-2338147.html