Kinhtedothi-Founding and taking on the task of managing Doan Thi Diem Primary School since the age of 52, her passionate love for the teaching profession has brought People's Teacher Nguyen Thi Hien to stick with the "career"of education and training until today when she is nearly 80 years old. She still lives each day to the fullest with the path she has chosen.
Always keeping in mind that one must have love to stick with the profession, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors, former Party Cell Secretary, former Principal of Doan Thi Diem Private Primary School - Hanoi , People's Teacher (NGND) Nguyen Thi Hien has pursued the "happy school" model for decades, together with the school's Board of Directors to successfully build a high-quality school model, creating a premise for the development of the scale of the high-quality primary school system in the capital.
"Every day I go to school I feel healthier and happier"
In the early days of June, when we came to Doan Thi Diem Primary School on a small street in Nam Tu Liem District, when the whole schoolyard was silent at noon, we saw "teacher" Nguyen Thi Hien still working hard in a room on the second floor. With her petite figure, sharp eyes and clear voice, no one would think that People's Teacher Nguyen Thi Hien is almost 80 years old and suffering from cancer. She exudes the calmness of someone who is always ready to face all challenges in life.
“At this time, students are all on summer vacation, and in fact, they can completely not go to school and just sit at home and work, but I still like to come here because every day I go to school, I feel healthier and happier, and I can integrate into the work at the school I have been attached to for many years” - People's Teacher Nguyen Thi Hien confided.
Doan Thi Diem Private Primary School was established in 1997 under the auspices of the University of Foreign Languages. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien was assigned as Vice Principal in charge, and became Principal in September 2001. In the early days, the school faced numerous challenges due to lack of facilities, lack of operating funds, and lack of land to build the school; it had to rent 4 different locations in Cau Giay District. Ms. Hien herself was a Russian teacher with no management experience, and the concept of a "private school" was still very new, so many parents and even colleagues were skeptical.
Putting aside her doubts, teacher Nguyen Thi Hien began to learn management methods through books, to study the practices of famous schools in Hanoi, to learn good experiences to apply in management and determined to build a school that trains students to develop comprehensively in Morality-Intelligence-Physical-Aesthetics: Not only developing their full potential and talents but also being compassionate and loving to everyone.
Under her leadership, Doan Thi Diem School gradually overcame many difficulties and has now become one of the largest primary schools in the capital with hundreds of classrooms, the top priority of many parents when choosing a comprehensive educational school for their children - "The school of dreams and compassion". Currently, the Doan Thi Diem private school system has developed 3 primary, secondary and high school campuses in Hanoi and 1 campus in Ha Long City.
The "sweet fruits" of a united, dedicated team
Despite her many successes, Ms. Hien also encountered countless difficulties in life. In 2006, when the school was gradually stabilizing, she suffered a herniated disc and had to be hospitalized for many months; less than a year later, she had an accident and broke her leg, requiring a total replacement of her right femur. Not long after, she suffered the greatest pain when her daughter, who was also her colleague, suddenly passed away. Pain upon pain, and yet after the first anniversary of her daughter's death, she discovered she had cancer. However, she accepted it calmly, just like any other challenge she had faced. "The greatest pain I could endure was losing my daughter, so when I found out I had cancer, I just considered it a challenge to overcome," People's Teacher Nguyen Thi Hien confided.
While working and fighting a serious illness, with a love that is always complete for the "career" of a teacher, People's Teacher Nguyen Thi Hien and the school's Board of Directors have for many years maintained the organization of teaching the Cambridge International Primary School program, the Oxford Primary School program and the US standard STEM program for grades 1, 2, 3; 4; 5. The 2021-2022 school year is the 8th school year, the school maintains 100% of high-quality education classes, international English classes; at the same time, supporting private schools in many neighboring provinces and in Hanoi to build a private primary school model suitable for the development trend of society.
The 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, but the number of students winning national and international awards at the school was still at the top of the education movement in Nam Tu Liem district and Hanoi city, including 55 gold medals, 97 silver medals, 182 bronze medals...
Personally, People's Teacher Nguyen Thi Hien has successfully built and defended before the Ministry of Education and Training's Scientific Council the integration program between the 2018 General Education Program of Vietnam and the General Education Program of Cambridge University (at Cambridge International Classes 1; 2; 3) and the integration between the 2018 General Education Program of Vietnam and the General Education Program of Oxford University (at Oxford International Classes 1). Under her leadership, the Board of Directors has always proactively built relationships with schools in countries with advanced education; directed the enhancement of innovation in teaching methods, investment in modern equipment, application of IT, provision of software... in teaching and learning management.
In particular, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors Nguyen Thi Hien herself always creates conditions to improve the material and spiritual life of cadres, teachers, and employees, especially women; promptly cares for difficult circumstances; supports funding and provides periodic health check-ups for cadres and teachers of the entire school... These activities have day by day built a united and dedicated collective.
Not only is she a role model in the emulation movement "Good people, good deeds", respected by her colleagues, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien is also very active in social work, the school leaders organize many charity activities, focusing on educating students about compassion. Through gratitude activities, charity work, she has organized a Fair to sell used toys, the program "Raising piggy banks, nurturing dreams"... to raise donations.
The total amount of money raised through activities in the past 5 school years reached over 1 billion VND. Each year, the school supports the Vietnam Children's Fund with 150-300 million VND, the Hanoi Children's Fund with 50-100 million VND, the Vietnam Education Promotion Fund with 100 million VND; supports many poor students overcoming difficulties in difficult mountainous provinces...
Concerns about “happy schools”
When asked about her views on the quality of education, People's Teacher Nguyen Thi Hien shared that, right from its establishment, Doan Thi Diem Primary School began implementing the "happy school" model. She always kept in mind that every day at school for students must be a happy day, and Doan Thi Diem must bring out true values that bring happiness to students. For that reason, innovation for the school is continuous and unceasing, also aiming to increasingly improve the quality and reputation of the school. Because, without innovation, it is impossible to attract students - that is the mindset of the school's leaders to be able to stand firm in the context of many high-quality private educational institutions.
Confiding about her upcoming plans, teacher Nguyen Thi Hien's eyes suddenly lit up, mixed with concern. She said that she always wanted the capital's education system to develop more and more, bringing many happy schools and joy to students and parents. The school she and her colleagues are managing has a large number of students but the facilities cannot meet all of them, so she always wishes for a more spacious and modern facility, so that it can best implement the educational programs of advanced countries. Therefore, the Board of Directors is completing procedures to open another primary-secondary school in Hanoi, in order to create the best learning environment for students, when the demand for the Doan Thi Diem school system is currently very high.
“After many ups and downs in life, I feel that I can work until today because I consider education as a career; because I love the job, love the people I am working with, love the generations of students who have been trained in my school. When you have love, you can overcome everything. I hope that those who are working in the industry, whether they are staff, teachers or service people, should determine to love the job and devote themselves to the industry, because only those who love education can do well in this profession. When people love the job, love children, they will be passionate, have many initiatives, and always want to contribute to the profession” - Ms. Hien shared.
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