Ignite the aspiration to step out into the world.

TP - Amidst the towering jagged mountains, the classrooms of Sung Mang Ethnic Boarding Primary School in Tuyen Quang province (formerly Meo Vac district, Ha Giang province) regularly resound with sounds still unfamiliar to the children of the highlands: "Hello," "good morning," "thank you." The person who sows these seeds of knowledge is young teacher Tan Ta Quyen, the first teacher to emerge from the "English Teacher Training Project for Meo Vac District."

The first person

In the mornings, summer as well as winter, Sung Mang is always shrouded in fog, rarely seeing the sun. Located in a valley, the local government and people carefully selected every meter of land to build the school. Many functional classrooms are lacking, only accommodating 10 classes across 5 levels of primary education and living quarters for students.

The road to Sung Mang commune is winding and steep, nestled amidst jagged rocks. In this seemingly remote place, every morning, young teacher Tan Ta Quyen patiently teaches his elementary school students their first English words – children who grew up in the mountains, rarely daring to dream of the outside world , and who are 100% Dao and Mong ethnic minorities.

33 students participating in the English teacher training project for Meo Vac district, led by educator Nguyen Xuan Khang. Photo: Provided by educator Nguyen Xuan Khang.

Few people know that, to get to where she is today, Quyen has gone through a very difficult journey – a journey that was fortunately connected with a passionate project called "Training English teachers for Meo Vac district," initiated and funded by Educator Nguyen Xuan Khang, President of Marie Curie School ( Hanoi ), since 2023.

Born and raised in the highlands of Meo Vac, Tan Ta Quyen, a Dao ethnic minority, understands the disadvantages faced by students there. Many years ago, English remained a significant gap in education in these mountainous regions, not only due to limited facilities but also a lack of well-trained teachers. Quyen chose to study English at a college in Hanoi. She then pursued a bridging program in English Pedagogy at Hanoi University of Education.

In her final year, Quyen's greatest fortune was encountering the English teacher training project led by Professor Nguyen Xuan Khang. The project provided her with a minimum monthly living allowance of 5 million VND (starting in December 2023). This served as both motivation and a responsibility for Quyen to strive for excellence. In July 2025, Quyen will be the first of 33 students supported by the project to graduate.

After graduating, Tan Ta Quyen chose to return to her hometown, taking a job at Sung Mang Ethnic Boarding Primary School. After a long time, following years of recruitment announcements, the school in Sung Mang commune finally had someone qualified to apply for the position of primary school English teacher, opening up many hopes for teaching English in one of the most disadvantaged areas in the country.

In a simple classroom with limited resources, Quyen began teaching the first English lessons to students in the mountainous region. Without elaborate textbooks or modern equipment, the young teacher taught with perseverance, creativity, and a love for his profession. Each new word was associated with a familiar image, and each lesson was a story close to the children's lives.

Gradually, those shy eyes learned to pronounce "hello" and "thank you"; the children, for the first time, bravely stood up and spoke a clear, fluent English sentence. For Quyen, this was the greatest reward.

The children begin to pronounce simple words, learn to greet in English, and vaguely imagine a world larger than the rocky mountain ranges... Because English is the second foreign language (Vietnamese is the first) for all the students here, with the same time and curriculum, while students in more privileged areas learn 10 words, Mr. Quyen's students only learn 1 or 2.

Sometimes, he felt like he belonged to his own kingdom, because there were no other teachers with the same expertise to exchange ideas and discuss work with. Even to have internet access for teaching, Mr. Quyen rented a room 7 km from his home and 13 km from the school.

"My wish is to stay here and have the opportunity to continue my studies and enhance my professional skills." - Teacher Tan Ta Quyen

The difficulties gradually faded away thanks to the students' progress. At Sung Mang Ethnic Boarding Primary School today, English is no longer an unfamiliar subject. Teacher Tan Ta Quyen's lessons have been quietly sowing new seeds—seeds of self-confidence and the aspiration to step out into the world.

Amidst the harsh rocky plateau, the path to the future for children in the highlands may be long. But for teachers like Tan Ta Quyen, each letter sown each day is the first, persistent, and quiet step, opening the door to knowledge for future generations.

The sower

Teacher Nguyen Xuan Khang and one of the 33 students supported by the project during a meeting at Marie Curie School in 2024. Photo: Provided by Teacher Nguyen Xuan Khang.

In 2020, the education sector implemented the 2018 General Education Program, in which English became a compulsory subject from grade 3 nationwide. The reality in Meo Vac district, Ha Giang province (formerly), at that time revealed a worrying gap: the entire district had only one primary school English teacher, and schools were virtually devoid of foreign language teachers.

Teacher Nguyen Xuan Khang (affectionately called "Grandpa" by his students) decided to recruit and pay nearly 20 online English teachers for all the primary schools in the area. Immediately afterwards, he initiated and began implementing another, more fundamental project: supporting English teacher training in Meo Vac, with an estimated total budget of up to 12 billion VND.

According to the agreement, the students would return to Meo Vac to apply for English teaching positions in their hometown. In 2023, Mr. Khang proactively proposed to the People's Committee of Meo Vac district (formerly) a collaborative program to train English teachers for the district through a combination of government-sponsored and socialized education, under the name "English Teacher Training for Meo Vac".

Marie Curie School will support the training of approximately 30 teachers with an estimated total cost of 6-12 billion VND. The Meo Vac authorities are proactively seeking students from the local area who have been admitted to universities offering English language programs, and arranging for them to teach at schools in the district after graduation.

Marie Curie School provides a minimum of 5 million VND per student per month for living expenses (starting from December 2023). This amount may increase to 10 million VND per month, depending on the students' academic performance; the money is transferred directly to the students' accounts each month of study.

With the project "Training English teachers for Meo Vac district," it is hoped that within 2-3 years, primary schools in the former Meo Vac district will no longer have a shortage of English teachers.

Upon receiving the news that Tan Ta Quyen had graduated and returned to work in her hometown, Teacher Khang was deeply moved because one of his 33 beloved "children" had finally been able to establish herself and build a career.

Mr. Bui Van Thu, Chairman of Sung Mang commune (formerly Head of the Education and Training Department of Meo Vac district), is truly grateful to Professor Khang and happy that the first student to graduate has returned to his hometown to work.

Currently, the remaining 31 students are still studying well, and one student is awaiting graduation and will return to local schools to teach. In the next 2-3 years, these students will graduate and return to work in the communes of the former Meo Vac district. At that time, the communes will basically have a stable source of English teachers, serving the long-term needs and overcoming the teacher shortage.

Recalling the day he graduated, teacher Tan Ta Quyen was deeply moved when teacher Khang immediately bought him a brand-new motorbike as a means of transportation, along with the warmest words of encouragement and advice.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/thap-uoc-vong-buoc-ra-the-gioi-post1817688.tpo