The teacher grows old with history and unforgettable memories

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WE CAME TO MEET TEACHER NGUYEN TRONG THANG (88 YEARS OLD, THUONG TIN DISTRICT) ON A DAY NEAR NOVEMBER 20. THE ATMORTAR OF CELEBRATING VIETNAMESE TEACHERS' DAY WAS FULL OF STREETS AND EVEN INTO THE SMALL HOUSE OF THE TEACHER WHO RETIRED 40 YEARS AGO...

"You guys should eat some oranges, they're very sweet. In the old days, people used to jokingly say that Teachers' Day was the day of "donating oranges". Every student who came to visit their teachers would hold a few oranges. It was so much fun," Mr. Thang smiled toothlessly as he offered us a plate of oranges. Those oranges were no longer gifts from students to the old teacher, but the memory of Teachers' Day is still vivid in his memory until now.

Then he took out an old dial-up phone from his pocket and excitedly showed off his successful students, some of whom are now in Germany and Canada and just yesterday remembered to call to ask about his health. At 88 years old, his eyesight is poor and his hands are shaking, but for him, it is a great joy, especially during these days.

Before meeting him, we - young people in our twenties - had heard about the war, about teachers who taught during the war, and until meeting Mr. Thang, the excitement of hearing about the old days had not diminished at all. He talked naturally, constantly reminding us to ask him if we had anything to say, because "if I sat down and told him everything, there would be too much to tell, and if I told him everything now, there would be nothing left to tell." That was because he was worried, afraid that at this age, there would be times when he would forget because he really wanted to tell him a lot of things, about his career and about life.

Born in 1934, Mr. Nguyen Trong Thang witnessed all the ups and downs of the era, the days of war, the famine in 1945, when the country was reforming and all the changes of the country up to now.

Since he was a child, Mr. Thang has had a passion for teaching, so when he was 11 or 12 years old, he volunteered to participate in the movement to "eliminate illiteracy". "After the August Revolution succeeded, Uncle Ho considered hunger and illiteracy as enemies that hindered the country's development. In addition to foreign invaders, hunger made people suffer, illiteracy made people unable to do business, so at that time, the whole population followed Uncle Ho's teaching to attack illiteracy. At that time, from urban to rural areas, even walls or tree roots had boards with words to remind people. People who knew how to read and write taught people who didn't, and first and second graders could also teach. I loved teaching since I was a child, so at that time I volunteered to teach everyone: "O is round like a chicken egg, O wears a hat, O has a beard...", he repeated the poem and smiled as if he was reliving those old days.

He said he had badges and certificates of merit as "fighters against illiteracy", but a lot of time had passed and with job transfers, some of those souvenirs had been lost.

Then his teaching career was interrupted by war and famine. Many people advised him to become a tax officer or a police officer, but because of his love for the profession, he was determined to pursue his passion. "Many people told me that teaching was a thankless profession and that I should not pursue it. But for me, teaching is a profession that brings joy to children and helps them learn, and it is also a condition for me to raise my children to become good people," he said, then slowly walked into the room to show us photos of his youth.

At that time, the young man Nguyen Trong Thang, only 23 years old, followed the call of the motherland, leaving the city to go to the mountains to teach. He taught at Bo Ha school (Bac Giang), which at that time was still a remote mountainous area, with schools and classrooms but they were just makeshift thatched houses in the middle of the mountains and hills. The North had just been liberated, the country's economy was still facing countless difficulties and the life of teachers was no exception.

"Although I graduated from Hanoi Pedagogical University, I am a private teacher (a teacher paid by the people), and the cooperative will pay me several dozen kilos of rice and paddy each month. Each person gets 40 centimeters of nylon fabric to cover the rain. When it is divided, we have to give in to each other a little bit, from the raincoat to the necessary items, we have to discuss and share them. It was difficult, but when we went to class and met the children, we forgot everything and didn't think about the difficulties much. At that time, we were young people, so we didn't think about those difficulties because we didn't have a family yet, didn't have to support anyone, we just had to take care of ourselves."

Recalling his youth, he was moved because he spared nothing to devote toeducation . Then he left Bac Giang for K9 Suoi Hai, Hong Chau and then returned to Hanoi to teach.

During the intense years of the resistance war against the US, he both taught and was a soldier protecting his students. Recalling the evacuation period, he went to school every day and at night built bunkers and straw hats to prepare for his students. During class, enemy planes came, so Mr. Thang and his colleagues had to take the students to the bunker. The teachers sat at the bunker door to observe the situation and shield them from bullets.

The hardships, the war, the bombs were so fierce, but everything happened so long ago that the old teacher felt calm when remembering. Everything seemed like yesterday, but in fact it had been decades, almost a lifetime.

"Do you still have the pictures of you teaching back then?" I asked.

"Back then, my salary was not enough for three meals, so where did I get money to take pictures? There was a saying: 'First is Medicine - second is Pharmacy - okay is Polytechnic - forget Pedagogy'" - he said with a laugh. It was a joke but it was enough to describe the hardships of that time. Indeed, with a meager salary of 50 dong a month, only equal to more than 100 kg of rice, how could we make ends meet? Both my husband and I were teachers, so teaching in the morning and working at home in the evening was a very normal thing, not only for my family at that time.

"Those were hard times, many people advised me to wear a hat down, wear glasses, have a cigarette box and a pump next to me and sit at the head of the street to earn more money. But I couldn't do it, if I sat like that, how could students pass by? I could do other things, anything that didn't affect the honor of a teacher, I would do, starving to be clean, ragged to be fragrant".

So the teacher took on a sewing job at home at night, while his wife took on a job making sticky rice and knitting for hire. Every morning, the couple went to class together... For decades, they were able to raise four children. Later, when the country changed, the children gradually grew up, life became more prosperous, and the teacher and his wife could focus on teaching.

He said that despite many ups and downs, he and his wife never wanted to give up teaching because thanks to this noble profession, he was able to teach students and especially educate his children to become obedient and successful.

I thought that at the age of 88, there would be memories of my students that I could not remember, but no, there are still lingering worries and concerns about my students that I will probably never forget. That was the time I beat a student because the student brought a snake into class to tease his friends. That was also the only time I "beat" my student. "At night, I keep thinking about it because I couldn't control myself at that time. After beating him, I cried. Now, that student is gone, but I still feel regretful," the teacher said, tears welling up as he recalled.

Teaching is a noble profession and the dream of Mr. Nguyen Trong Thang as well as many generations to come. With many ambitions, he was once ready to leave the lowlands to carry letters and dreams to remote mountainous areas. There, even in the poverty of the vast mountains and forests, with bamboo classrooms lacking notebooks, pens, blackboards and white chalk, the young teacher still overcame adversity and devoted himself to the cause of education of the country. Until now, it has been 40 years since he left the podium, but the memories of the "i to" days are still intact in the mind of the former teacher. He still remembers the blackboard, white chalk, and sometimes still sees the handwriting and sentences of his students in his dreams.

Dedicated to the cause of educating people, Mr. Nguyen Trong Thang affirmed that the teaching profession is a proud profession. Whether in the role of a soldier "fighting the enemy of ignorance" or when leaving the podium to follow the education sector, he is always proud of his profession, a glorious profession but also carries many responsibilities. He said that over time and with the development of society, the position of teachers has more or less changed with each historical period.

In the old society, teachers held an extremely important position, and their rank was honored. Teachers loved their students, students respected their teachers, and the people respected their teachers. Teachers were not only the ones who taught letters but also taught etiquette, rules, ethics, and how to be a good person. Therefore, teachers in the tradition were exemplary in personality and profound in intelligence. In an era that emphasizes economic development, honors startups, and promotes entertainment like today, the position of the teaching profession is probably no longer the same as before.

In 2022, more than 16,000 teachers resigned or transferred to the private sector. The main reasons are that the income from the profession does not meet the basic needs of life, being overloaded with administrative procedures, the working environment has many risks and many pressures, making them emotionally and mentally exhausted. Mr. Thang is concerned because those who pursue the teaching profession now have to endure pressure from many sides, family, school and public opinion. He hopes that the Party, the State and the Education sector will focus on implementing many activities to take care of the material and spiritual life of teachers, especially those in difficult circumstances. Especially creating a happy school, so that each member feels that every day at school is a happy day, the school is truly "a place to dream of, a place to return to".

The former teacher believes in the youth's strength, enthusiasm and dedication. He advises young people to be brave in doing what they like, not to be afraid of difficulties or hardships, not to back down from challenges and to confidently pursue their dreams.