Education in the highland village of Keo Ca

From the center of Muong Gion commune, we have to travel 40 km to reach Keo Ca village. In this season, both sides of the road have green corn fields, to go deep into the village, there are some sections of the road, we have to weave through the dense old forest, many sections we have to hold the steering wheel to get through the sharp hairpin bends.

After nearly two hours, we arrived at Keo Ca Kindergarten (belonging to Hoa Hong Kindergarten) and Keo Ca Primary School (belonging to La Gion Primary and Secondary School). Here, there are 10 teachers who are diligently teaching 139 students who are ethnic minority children every day.

Physical education class of teachers and students at Keo Ca kindergarten.

Arriving at the kindergarten, right on time for the teachers to organize outdoor activities for the students, we saw many children still having to go to class barefoot.

Sharing with us, Ms. Ha Thi Tuoi, Vice Principal of Hoa Hong Kindergarten, said: For many years, teachers have used their own money or mobilized benefactors to support clothes and shoes for students, especially in the cold winter. However, due to living habits and lack of attention from some parents, many children still go barefoot all day. We have reminded and encouraged parents many times, but the change is still slow.

Keo Ca Kindergarten has 4 teachers in charge of teaching 58 children in 3 groups from 2 to 5 years old. In the 2024 - 2025 school year, thanks to the attention of the government and the kindness of benefactors, the school was built and repaired to be more spacious and solid. However, teachers and students here still face many difficulties, such as no official housing for teachers, lack of outdoor toys, and teaching aids. In particular, the sparsely populated area and scattered households make it difficult to mobilize children to go to class. Or there are students who are of school age, but because their parents got married early and have not yet obtained birth certificates, they have not yet gone to school. Moreover, due to local customs, many parents have to go to work in the fields from an early age, leaving their children's education almost entirely up to the teachers.

For the sake of their beloved students, the teachers have overcome difficulties together, collected pictures, used scrap materials to make toys, and decorated the study corner. To encourage students to come to class, the teachers have also visited each house, even gone to the fields to persuade parents to send their children to school. Thanks to such persistent efforts, the work of mobilizing students to attend classes at the beginning of the year at the school has always met the set targets.

A lesson between teacher and students at Keo Ca kindergarten.

Having worked at Keo Ca Kindergarten for over 2 years, teacher Lu Thi Mang shared: My house is in Quynh Nhai commune, more than 70 km away from the school, so I only visit home on weekends. Every time I go to school, I prepare enough rice and food to last for a week. The school still has many difficulties, but the great love I have for the children makes me stick with this job.

Visit Keo Ca Primary School, part of La Gion Primary and Secondary School not far away, where all classrooms and teachers' rooms are built from prefabricated houses. Currently, the school has 81 students, divided into 5 classes, taught by 6 teachers.

All students at Keo Ca Primary School are entitled to a monthly support of 150,000 VND according to Decree No. 81/ND-CP of the Government for students in extremely disadvantaged areas. In addition, many students also receive a boarding regime according to Decree 66, with a support level of more than 930,000 VND per month and 15 kg of rice. However, because the school does not have a boarding kitchen, the money and rice are distributed directly to the students each month, instead of organizing meals at the school.

The Board of Directors of La Gion Primary School visited teachers and students of Keo Ca school.

Mr. Tong Van Hung, a teacher at Keo Ca Primary School, said: Currently, out of 81 students, 22 live far away so they often stay at school for a whole week before returning. To facilitate the students, we have arranged 2 prefabricated rooms. The students cook their own meals, and the food is mainly brought by their families, so the meals are not nutritious enough. Teachers also always support and guide the students in safe cooking and fire prevention; take turns managing break time activities and tutoring them in lessons. The hardest part is the dry season, when water sources are scarce, making it difficult for both teachers and students to eat, stay, and live.

The house is 9 km away from the school on a dirt road, so on Sundays, Trang Thi Thai, a 5th grade student at Keo Ca Primary School, goes down the mountain to school and returns home on Friday afternoons. Sometimes her parents pick her up, and sometimes she walks home by herself. Thai said: "When I go to school, my friends and I cook our own meals. Our meals are mainly vegetables and white rice, or our teachers give us instant noodles and dried fish. Here, our teachers guide us through our lessons and remind us to go to bed on time. I will try to study well, be a good boy, and not let my teachers down."

A lesson of teachers and students at Keo Ca primary school.

Besides the difficulties in transportation and lack of teaching facilities, especially now that the teaching program requires students to access information technology, the teachers' office and kitchen, which are made from prefabricated rooms, are also in disrepair.

Sharing the difficulties with teachers at the schools, the Board of Directors of La Gion Primary and Secondary School has overcome them by organizing teacher rotations to teach at the schools, including Keo Ca school. At the same time, focusing on building a team of cadres and teachers with strong ideology, good expertise, and dedication to the profession.

With 100% of the students being Mong, many students are not yet fluent in Mandarin, so from the beginning of the school year, the school has classified students to have a suitable Vietnamese language training plan. In the 2025-2026 school year, Keo Ca Primary School The goal is for 100% of 5th graders to complete primary school, and over 98% of students in other grades to be promoted directly to the next grade, of which at least 20% will achieve the title of advanced or excellent students.

Teachers of Hoa Hong Kindergarten and La Gion Secondary School encourage parents to send their children to school.

Saying goodbye to teachers and students of Keo Ca kindergarten and primary school, we were more deeply imbued with the noble meaning of the career of "cultivating people". Here, overcoming difficulties, teachers still silently sow knowledge, help students to rise up, and nurture dreams of a bright future. To make learning in the highland villages more effective, it is necessary to have the attention of the government, sectors, and kind-hearted people in investing in facilities and equipment, creating conditions for teachers and students to feel secure in teaching well and studying well.

Source: https://baosonla.vn/khoa-giao/su-hoc-o-ban-vung-cao-keo-ca-NMgwdS3HR.html