I picked up the phone out of politeness, but I thought he must have dialed the wrong number. He must have called his subordinate. I asked, “Why are you calling so late? Is there something going on at school?” On the other end of the line, his voice dropped, “Today, my school had a sad event.” Then he said, “One of my students just passed away.” Right then, I knew he hadn’t dialed the wrong number.

Mr. Pham Hoang Quan said that this student has been studying Business Administration at the school for 6 years. The reason for this delay is that in the last years he was diagnosed with leukemia. He had to go to school and get treatment at the same time. However, he was determined to complete the program and get a university degree. The path he took has been completed. 6 days ago, the school held a graduation ceremony and his name was on the list of students receiving degrees this time. I thought it would be a happy occasion, but then the school received information that he had a high fever and had to be taken to the hospital for emergency treatment. Yesterday, he breathed his last breath before he could hold his degree in his hands after years of tireless study.

student
Associate Professor, Dr. Le Chi Lan – Vice Principal of Saigon University awarded the diploma to Ly Tan Phat. His younger brother and parents received the diploma on Phat's behalf. Photo: TD

The principal shared that, to him, each student is a life, a lifetime. They enter the school at the age of 18-19, carrying many dreams, ambitions, and aspirations for knowledge and life. The school also has high expectations for them and considers each student a part of the school. Losing a student makes him feel pain and torment. He decided that tomorrow, the school representative will come to pay his condolences and present the student with a graduation certificate while he is still “on earth”. Perhaps this is the last consolation before the student leaves this temporary world.

A month ago, I asked him about the lecturers' income. He said that for him, each month is a living. As a principal, he has the responsibility to make sure that his lecturers can live and live well, work with peace of mind, and be dedicated to their profession. Not to run around at the beginning of the year, and at the end of the year, receive a bunch of money only to pay off debts.

In recent years, many excellent lecturers and researchers have come to work at Saigon University. Among them, we must mention mathematics professor Nguyen Sum - a very famous mathematician. Associate Professor, Doctor of Mathematics Pham Hoang Quan said that students must enjoy the best. They spend money to study, must learn from good teachers to acquire knowledge. To attract good people, it is not only about funding but also about the working environment.

On the occasion of the recent Lunar New Year, he called to inform: This year, the school not only organized buses to take students home for Tet (which many universities in the South are doing), but also welcomed them back to school after Tet.

“Should we take them back to their hometowns and force them to spend money? After Tet, traveling is difficult and trains and buses are expensive. For students in difficult circumstances, spending a lot of money on train and bus tickets is not small. That amount can be half a month’s living expenses for students in the city. Well, the school has vehicles to transport lecturers to invigilate exams and students to study. If we don’t use them for these things, what else can we use them for?” he said. Therefore, the school organized to welcome students in difficult circumstances back to school, mainly students from the North and Central regions, who traveled thousands of kilometers to get to Saigon.

Associate Professor Pham Hoang Quan
Associate Professor, Doctor of Mathematics Pham Hoang Quan - President of Saigon University. Photo: TH

Under his management, Saigon University always had high admission scores every year. The school firmly refused to use transcripts for admission because it believed that transcripts were not an accurate channel for admission. A candidate in the mountainous region had a 9-point transcript and another in the city had a 7-point transcript. Could the school admit a student with a 9-point transcript? So the key point here is that the way of evaluating by scores in each region and each school is different, leading to a failure to reflect the true ability of the student. To ensure the rights of candidates and fair assessment, the school does not use transcripts but uses exam results for admission.

This year, Saigon University will implement autonomy. Autonomy means increasing tuition fees to balance revenue and expenditure, in the context of not receiving budget from the city. He shared that to reach the decision on autonomy, the school had many meetings, calculating every little thing, how to come up with a suitable tuition fee, so that students can still go to school and still be able to take care of themselves. He assured that among the schools implementing autonomy, Saigon University's tuition fee will be the lowest. The school will have a policy of not letting any student from difficult family circumstances or good students drop out of school because of increased tuition fees.

A student who passed away from cancer was awarded a university diploma at the funeral . Ly Tan Phat, a student of class DQK1198, Faculty of Business Administration - Saigon University, was awarded a diploma at the funeral. Phat died on April 9 due to leukemia.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/cuoc-goi-luc-nua-dem-cua-thay-hieu-truong-dai-hoc-2389636.html