A commune in Hanoi has more than 400 students who still have to cross the river every day to go to school.

(Dan Tri) - About 60km to the West, there is a unique "oasis" of Hanoi with a population of less than 7,000 people, where 458 teachers and students still have to cross the river by boat or ferry every day to get to school.

The First Lesson in Gratitude

On the morning of September 5, about 15 ferry trips in Minh Chau island commune ( Hanoi ) were added to bring students and teachers to the mainland to attend the opening ceremony.

Minh Chau commune (old Ba Vi district) is located in the middle of the Red River, where the three rivers Da, Lo, and Hong converge. One side borders Duong village, Vinh Tuong district (old Vinh Phuc ), the other side borders Chu Minh commune, also in Ba Vi district (old).

Due to the nature of the alluvial land located in the middle of the Red River, to shorten the way to Minh Chau, you can only travel by boat or ferry from the East (Chu Minh ferry) and the West (via Thu Do sluice).

After the administrative reorganization, Minh Chau commune now has 1,200 students of 3 levels: preschool, primary and secondary. The commune does not have a high school.

About 458 teachers and students have to cross the river every day to get to school (Photo: Huu Nghi).

Right in the capital, every day, many teachers have to cross the river to go to the island to teach. Conversely, because the island does not have a high school, many students also have to cross the river to the mainland to find education. This year, the commune has 458 teachers and students who have to cross the river like that.

Although he doesn't have to cross the river to get to school, like many other students, after a long summer vacation, on the morning of September 5, Nguyen Danh Hung, class 9C, Minh Chau Secondary School, still eagerly woke up at 5am to prepare for class.

The boy washed last year's old uniform yesterday and it smelled fresh. He ate his cold rice and quickly rode his bike to school. After the morning opening ceremony, Hung's class would have algebra and a local education lesson in the afternoon.

Danh Hung (left) and Quang, two poor but excellent students of Minh Chau Secondary School (Photo: My Ha).

Hung is one of the students who has a difficult situation but has overcome it to rise up. In 2024, he won the encouragement prize at the old district-level Olympic in physics. He was one of the five students of the school who attended the meeting of outstanding children of the capital in August.

Teachers consider him one of the good seeds, the hope of the school. However, if he passes the high school entrance exam, children like Hung will have to cross the river by boat every day to go to school. “Normally I am quite familiar with it, but on rainy and flooded days I am really scared,” the boy said.

At Minh Chau Kindergarten, right after the opening ceremony, preschool children started their first lessons.

Sharing with Dan Tri reporter, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nam, teacher of the 5-year-old class, said that the first lesson of the class right after the opening ceremony was about gratitude to parents, thereby arousing the diligence and desire to learn in each student.

After that, the children will practice basic strokes, combining singing and dancing performances to create excitement for the following lessons.

Take a boat/ferry to school right in the heart of Hanoi

Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh, principal of Minh Chau Kindergarten, said she was originally from this island commune. “I still remember in the 1990s, because of the floods, when the university entrance exam notice arrived, the exam was already over. I missed the exam that year, and then fate forced me to get married. After that, I became a tailor and my business was very good,” Ms. Binh recalled.

Later, until 1995, the locality did not have any preschool teachers. Encouraged by the commune officials to teach preschool, Ms. Binh quit her "money-making" garment business at that time to teach.

To meet the teaching requirements, Ms. Binh continued to study. From Vice Principal, she continued to be appointed to the position of Principal.

Minh Chau Kindergarten currently has about 12 staff and teachers who have to cross the river every day (Photo: My Ha).

Currently, Minh Chau Kindergarten has a total of more than 30 teachers and staff, of which about 12 teachers and staff live on the other side of the river and have to take boats and ferries every day.

Many of the girls live 15-16km away but still stick with the job. Some have studied flower arranging or considered changing careers but in the end still stick with school and class.

Ms. Chu Thi Loan, in charge of the kindergarten class, has been with the school for about 10 years. Ms. Loan's house is on the other side of the river. During the recent merger, the school suggested to her and some senior teachers that if they had a need, the school would create conditions for them to move to a school closer to home, so they wouldn't have to cross the river every day. However, with love and affection, teachers like Ms. Loan all chose to stay on the island commune.

Some teachers live about 40km from school but still attend class (Photo: Ngoc Luu).

“Crossing the river to get to class is quite unsafe for many teachers and students, especially on rainy and flood days. On those days, we sisters encouraged and proactively shared the work with each other, helping each other so that we could go to school late and leave early, avoiding the rain and wind,” said Ms. Binh.

Minh Chau Primary School currently has more than 10 people living on the other side of the river, some of whom live nearly 40km away from the school, which means a round trip of about 80km a day, not to mention having to go by boat. However, many teachers have been with the school for decades.

During the working session between the leadership of Minh Chau commune and the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, on the occasion of the Department giving gifts to teachers and students of the school on the opening day of September 5, Mr. Bui Thai Son, Chairman of the People's Committee of Minh Chau commune, said that after the arrangement of administrative units, the commune has about 1,200 students, and still does not have a high school.

Every year, about 400 students have to go to school in other areas, not to mention nearly 60 teachers who have to cross the river to get to school. Students after middle school have to go to school by ferry across the river, which poses a potential safety risk, especially during the rainy season.

Not having to cross the river every day is the dream of many teachers and students of Minh Chau island commune (Photo: Ngoc Luu).

Legitimate Dream

Faced with the urgent situation, the People's Committee of Minh Chau commune built an investment project for Minh Chau Junior High School - High School, both to meet the needs of on-site learning and to optimize investment resources.

According to Mr. Bui Thai Son, although the government and people of Minh Chau commune have made many efforts, the commune's education and training work still faces many difficulties and limitations.

Currently, only Minh Chau Primary School meets the standards, but many items have degraded, some rooms do not have the right area due to lack of appropriate functional renovation. Some schools lack teachers in some subjects or have enough teachers but they do not meet the standards.

According to the leader of Minh Chau island commune, some schools lack teachers or have teachers but they do not meet standards (Photo: Ngoc Luu).

In particular, with each ferry trip costing about 14,000 VND, nearly 500 teachers and students lost more than 1.7 billion VND on ferry fees for 9 months of school.

The representative of Minh Chau commune proposed that the Hanoi Department of Education and Training consider and apply preferential policies for cadres, teachers and workers working in the commune according to Decree No. 76/2019/ND-CP; support the cost of ferry crossing the river for students and teachers to reduce the burden on students' families and provide more motivation for teachers to work with peace of mind.

Sharing the thoughts of local leaders, Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training Tran The Cuong also agreed with the leaders of Minh Chau commune on the proposals and said that he would report to the City People's Committee on the policy of building a high school in Minh Chau commune.

Not having to cross the river every day is the dream of teachers and students of this island commune (Photo: Ngoc Luu).

The head of the Hanoi Department of Education said that the above proposals of the locality are completely legitimate. The Hanoi Department of Education and Training always accompanies the commune government in caring for and investing in education.

Saying goodbye to the only island commune in Hanoi, we remembered the words of Nguyen Danh Hung. The male student dreams of studying even better in the future, to pass the entrance exam to a medical school, become a doctor and become famous.

However, to make that dream come true, it is very likely that for the next 3 years of high school, I will still have to fight with the fear of crossing the river every day, if this peaceful island commune does not have a new high school built in the near future!

Photo: Do ​​Ngoc Luu

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/mot-xa-o-ha-noi-co-hon-400-hoc-sinh-van-phai-vuot-song-moi-ngay-di-hoc-20250906005721148.htm