A place to nurture talent among ethnic minorities

Ms. Bui Thi Vi Van during a Math class at Dong Nai Province Ethnic Boarding High School. Photo: Vu Thuyen

Therefore, the province and the education and training sector always pay attention to investment in building facilities and purchasing equipment, creating the most favorable conditions for schools to nurture young talents and meet the requirements of educational innovation.

Continuing the dream

Since childhood, Ms. Bui Thi Vi Van, a Math teacher at Dong Nai Province Ethnic Minority Boarding High School (in Hung Thinh Commune), a Muong ethnic person, dreamed of becoming a teacher to "sow knowledge" for her fellow countrymen's children.

That dream grew over the years when she was honored to be a student of the 2nd course (1994-1997) of Dong Nai Province Ethnic Minority Boarding High School.

Ms. Vi Van shared: “With my outstanding academic achievements, I was admitted directly to the University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City, but I decided to transfer to the Faculty of Mathematics Education, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education to pursue my dream. After graduating from university, I returned to the same school where I studied to continue imparting knowledge to ethnic minority students.”

Ms. Vi Van is one of many former students who grew up at Dong Nai Ethnic Minority Boarding High School. This is the place where talents are nurtured for many generations, in which many former students have become famous in all areas of social life. Therefore, when coming to this school to study, they all set the goal of studying well to pursue their dreams.

Ho Thi Bich Ngoc, class 10A2, shared: “Studying at this school helped me become independent from a young age, reducing the financial burden on my family. Especially, when I go to school, I set clear learning goals so that when I am successful, I can come back and repay the kindness of my teachers and the school's Board of Directors.”

Ly Thu Thao, class 11A2, expressed: "Thanks to the care, guidance, and inspiration of my teachers, I will try my best in my studies and am determined to take the university entrance exam to return to school to teach children in the future."

Recognizing the importance of training quality human resources in ethnic minority areas, in the 2024-2025 school year, Dong Nai Provincial Ethnic Minority Boarding High School was approved by the People's Committee of Dong Nai Province (before the administrative unit arrangement) to invest in construction, renovation and complete upgrading on an area of nearly 3.5 hectares, with a total investment of more than 152 billion VND. After upgrading and renovating, the school has spacious facilities with 15 classrooms, subject rooms, traditional rooms, kitchen, dining room, dormitory, playground, practice ground, medical room, meeting the learning needs of over 500 ethnic minority students.

Being fully equipped with facilities and equipment not only helps parents and students feel secure and confident, but also motivates teachers to unleash their passion for the profession; promote the application of information technology, innovate methods, and comprehensively improve the quality of education, especially the 2018 General Education Program.
Vice Principal of Dong Nai Province Ethnic Boarding High School Nguyen Thi Lam Hong

Preserving traditional cultural beauty

In addition to innovating and improving the quality of education, taking care of the material and spiritual life of students, ethnic minority boarding schools also incorporate traditional beauty into lessons and activities, contributing to raising students' awareness in preserving and promoting their ethnic cultural identity. In particular, Loc Ninh Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities is a bright spot in the province.

In 2022, the school will be newly invested in a spacious, clean and beautiful central location with a total cost of 50 billion VND, including many works and items, ensuring teaching, experience and boarding activities.

In particular, the school has smart classrooms, creating conditions for 100% of students to use computers to experience and practice intuitive, rich and attractive knowledge.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Tu, a math teacher, said: The model of teaching math on computers at the school has been implemented for the past 4 years and from the 2024-2025 school year, there will be smart classrooms, intuitive learning, so it is easy to learn, easy to absorb and creates excitement for learners. In addition to math, other subjects, especially natural sciences, also use smart classrooms to teach and practice right on the computer.

In addition to promoting solutions to comprehensively improve the quality of education, since the 2015-2016 school year, the school has been fully equipped with a pentatonic musical instrument with main musical instruments belonging to 5 sound groups: bronze, iron, wood, leather and wind. Therefore, in addition to Khmer songs, the children here also practice other songs about the country, homeland and people of Vietnam. The school also has a lithophone for the children to exchange, study and learn more about the cultural values of many different ethnic groups.

“As a Nung ethnic group, I have been able to study and practice the five-tone system as well as learn more about the Khmer people through musical notes and lectures from teachers. From there, I have a deeper understanding of the cultural traditions of the ethnic communities in our country” - Chu Hoang Kinh, class 8A1, Loc Ninh Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities shared.

Ms. Vu Thi Quynh Anh, a music teacher, said: Thanks to the full investment in musical instruments, in addition to the main team, it has attracted many students who love to participate. In addition, the school also creates conditions for the band to serve on major occasions of the school, the locality and the education and training sector. Maintaining and promoting traditional cultural values from musical instruments and village dances is also an invisible thread connecting ethnic communities together.

Vu Thuyen

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/dong-nai-cuoi-tuan/202510/noi-uom-mam-tai-nang-trong-dong-bao-dan-toc-thieu-so-71f1926/