The teacher became principal at the age of 20.

Hanoi Becoming a principal at the age of 20 and then attached to the podium for many years, Mr. Vinh felt disappointed when he retired, deciding to open a private school with many bold steps.

One day in early November, Mr. Nguyen Trong Vinh, founder of Nguyen Sieu Primary, Secondary and High School in Hanoi, sat in front of his computer, put on headphones, and played the song "Song of the People's Teacher" before drafting a document.

At the age of 88, with 69 years of experience, this year, he is the only teacher proposed by the Hanoi Departmentof Education and Training for consideration of the title of People's Teacher. He is also the oldest person on the list of 34 people nominated for this title.

"I am very happy and would like to dedicate this honor to generations of teachers and students, especially the parents who helped me complete my mission," said Mr. Vinh.

Mr. Nguyen Trong Vinh in his office at Nguyen Sieu school. Photo: Duong Tam

Mr. Vinh was born in a poor village, now in Hai Phong City. Orphaned at the age of 13, he joined the revolution, working as a liaison for the Viet Minh in the commune. With a "small, agile" figure, after traveling dozens of kilometers on foot and swimming in the river to carry out his duties, he was retained by the district party committee office, then the provincial party committee, and later the city party committee.

Highly regarded, but with limited cultural knowledge, Mr. Vinh was sent to study cultural remediation in the Viet Bac resistance zone. He said that when he arrived, he met Deputy Minister Nguyen Khanh Toan, who was given an office job because he "knew how to type with 10 fingers", while waiting for a new remediation class.

He said that one day the deputy minister asked, "Do you want to study in China?", and he immediately accepted. After three years of Pedagogy at the Nanning campus, when Hanoi was liberated in 1954, he was given special permission to graduate and, along with 14 others, returned to take over the school's youth work.

At the age of 20, Mr. Vinh was assigned to be the principal of Dong Ngac Primary School, an old school with 5-6 classes.

"That was a profound memory in my life, an honor but also a heavy responsibility. But at that time, everyone was very enthusiastic. So wherever we went, whatever environment we entered, we brought a new breath of revolutionary air," said Mr. Vinh.

Young teacher Trong Vinh later became a specialist of the Hanoi Department of Education, before studying at the Political Teaching Training School and then becoming a Philosophy lecturer at Hanoi Pedagogical College, now the Capital University.

The teacher became principal at the age of 20, opened a famous private school in Hanoi.

Mr. Vinh tells the story of returning from China to Hanoi to take over the capital. Video: Duong Tam

In 1965, when the resistance war against the US reached its most critical stage, the Party and the State mobilized political cadres to supplement the army. After months of intensive training at the Political Officer School, the 30-year-old teacher became a political cadre in the Engineering Corps.

For 25 years, he traveled across battlefields, once had a collapsed lung, and had his eardrum punctured twice, making him deaf in his right ear. In 1989, he retired with the rank of Colonel. Feeling lost, he thought he had to do something. And he did, both building and selling water in Phung Hung. After a while, he joined the Mountainous Education Support Center, traveling to remote schools from Muong Khuong to the northern mountainous provinces. Meeting many teachers, he recalled the time he stood on the podium and asked himself, "Why not open a school to teach?"

With the help of the Director of the Department of Education at that time, Mr. Vinh and his wife opened a private school, named Nguyen Sieu, after "taking roll call but only saw the school named Thanh Quat without Than Sieu".

The decision to establish the school was made on September 11, 1991, but it was not until the 1992-1993 school year that the school had its first opening with 132 students divided into 5 classes of secondary and high school. The following year, he established an additional primary school with two first-grade classes, each with 40 students.

He said the school had legal status, but was only a "school on a shoulder pole" because it had to rent eight locations for 12 years. The rented locations were all very bad, like the weedy backyard area at Thanh Cong School with rows of level 4 houses for workers. He had to find a way to make the school more spacious.

"The engineers helped me a lot, from bricks, cement, sand, to sending people to help with repairs. People around also supported me by donating old tables and chairs," said Mr. Vinh.

Although he had to rent or borrow, Mr. Vinh's policy was "good teachers, good students". Students with low entrance scores due to failing public schools were accepted into private schools, but they had to be good to be accepted. Regarding teachers, he invited good teachers from Hanoi - Amsterdam and Chu Van An schools to teach. He also let students learn IT on computers, inviting teachers from the Military Technical Academy. At that time, few schools could do this. The couple borrowed money to pay teachers' salaries.

At that time, students often called each other "teacher" and addressed themselves as "student", but Mr. Vinh believed that the teacher-student relationship should be like that of a father or mother teaching their children, so he required students to address themselves as "child". Students from other schools only attended one session a day, but all students at Nguyen Sieu School attended two sessions because the input was low and they needed to make up for their knowledge.

As a result, 100% of the first class graduated from high school, 72% entered university, college, and vocational school.

Mr. Vinh and Ms. Duong Thi Thinh with students of Nguyen Sieu School. Photo: Provided by the school

Later, Nguyen Sieu School was granted land and preferential loans for construction. In 2004, the school moved to its current location in Cau Giay District. The university entrance rate in the past 5 years has reached 100%, the school has also developed into the Cambridge International Bilingual School, many students have received scholarships to study abroad.

Mr. Vinh's wish is for Nguyen Sieu to become an international school, teaching in English and all students learning a second language, possibly Chinese.

"I also want the school to have a preschool level to train students from 3 years old," the nearly 90-year-old teacher shared.

Duong Tam

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/nguoi-thay-lam-hieu-truong-nam-20-tuoi-4674609.html