The 'unconventional' teacher asked to go to the mountain to teach

Ms. Dau Thi Le Huyen and her students in the highlands - Photo: NGUYEN HOANG

Up to now, Ms. Dau Thi Le Huyen (34 years old) has been teaching at Ea Bia Kindergarten, Song Hinh mountainous district (Phu Yen province) for 5 years.

The young teacher's paradoxical decision

Ms. Huyen said that in 2012, after graduating from Nha Trang Central College 2, she was assigned to teach at Hai Rieng Town Kindergarten (Song Hinh District).

Teaching in the "city" is the desire of many teachers, but Ms. Huyen chose a "contrary" direction: in 2019, she applied to transfer to Ea Bia Kindergarten - a mountainous commune with many difficulties, the majority of the population is ethnic minorities.

"When they learned that I was planning to transfer to teach at Ea Bia Kindergarten, my relatives and colleagues were all surprised and asked why I was teaching at a district school but wanted to transfer to a commune school, which has many ethnic minority students. That's because I'm young and want to bring my enthusiasm and affection to ethnic minority students who are still in difficulty and in need," Ms. Huyen shared.

At her new school, Ms. Huyen immediately faced challenges. 100% of the students were Ede ethnic minorities. Even though she had an Ede language certificate, the teacher encountered many difficulties in communication and conveying information.

"The children were not fluent in Kinh language, and the teacher was not fluent in Ede language, so when I could not express myself in Kinh language, the children would "shoot" Ede language, making me sweat and have to think hard to understand what they meant" - Ms. Huyen recalled.

So Ms. Huyen tried to teach the children according to her expertise, impart more Vietnamese to them, and make an effort to learn the Ede language. Soon, both the teacher and students could communicate "sweetly" in both Kinh and Ede. Since then, the teaching and learning of the teacher and students has been smooth for the past 5 years.

Love helps overcome all hardships

Ea Bia is a commune with nearly 90% of the population being Ede ethnic people. The people's economy only depends on slash-and-burn farming, with many difficulties. Many parents are not aware of sending their children to school.

According to Ms. Huyen, every August, the school conducts a survey on universal education for each household in the area. Although it is said to be a survey on universal education, in reality, Ms. Huyen and the school's teachers have to go and encourage and persuade parents to let their children go to school to learn to read and write.

Because people go to the fields before dawn and return home at dusk, the "universal education investigation" by Ms. Huyen and the teachers of Ea Bia Kindergarten often starts at 6 p.m. and sometimes ends at midnight.

The COVID-19 pandemic was an unforgettable time for Ms. Huyen. She said that while students in urban areas have computers or mobile phones to study online, ethnic minorities in the mountainous commune of Ea Bia still have difficulties and hardships, so in many cases they do not have devices to study online.

Continuing to "overcome difficulties", Ms. Huyen and the teachers came up with flexible teaching methods to help children not lose knowledge.

"I printed out the homework sheets and went to each house to deliver them. At that time, this was extremely difficult, because people were afraid that they were carrying the disease and did not dare to come into contact. However, we wore masks, took all disinfection measures, and ensured safety to impart knowledge to the children. If we have a heart for the job and for the children, we can overcome everything," said Ms. Huyen.

Ms. Ha Thi Nhung - principal of Ea Bia Kindergarten - said that Ms. Huyen is an energetic teacher, has high professional qualifications and always completes assigned tasks well.

"With her love for her job, Ms. Huyen is always creative in organizing activities, boldly finding new methods to teach flexibly, bringing optimal results and achieving many achievements at industry competitions" - Ms. Nhung commented.

National Outstanding Teacher

Ms. Dau Thi Le Huyen is one of 200 outstanding teachers and managers who have just been awarded a certificate of merit and commended by the Ministry of Education and Training on the occasion of the 41st anniversary of Vietnamese Teachers' Day in 2023. In addition, she was once an excellent teacher at the provincial level and has been a grassroots emulation fighter for many years...

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Lam, Head of the Department of Education and Training of Song Hinh district, commented that Ms. Huyen is a shining example in the district's education sector. "Ms. Huyen is very active, dynamic and enthusiastic about her job; she is a dedicated example in mobilizing and propagating parents to send their children to school," said Mr. Lam.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/co-giao-nguoc-doi-xin-len-nui-day-hoc-20240330001310688.htm