A day starts at 5am at the school of highland students

Without anyone waking them up, at exactly 5am, more than 330 students from grades 1 to 9 of Trung Leng Ho Primary and Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities woke up on their own, neatly folded their blankets, went to the bathroom, and did exercise. Many of them were used to being away from home, so they were quite independent in their collective life. They did not depend on adults, and had to “manage” everything in their day.

Ly Thi Dua (grade 7) is one of the students of Trung Leng Ho Primary and Secondary Boarding School whose family suffered heavy losses after the flood that occurred nearly 2 months ago. Dua's father, the head of Trung Ho village (Trung Leng Ho commune), died while helping people move their belongings away from the landslide. After a period of mourning for her father, Dua recovered and returned to her studies and life at the boarding house with her friends.

Mr. Vu Ngoc Anh, Vice Principal of Trung Leng Ho Primary and Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, said that students in the highlands are generally very independent. “If you visit any family during the harvest season, at home there are usually only children eating by themselves and playing alone. Older children, around 5th and 6th grade, have followed their parents to the fields to work. Children in the highlands are used to being friends with the mountains and hills from a young age,” he said.

Every day, the school assigns teachers to be on duty at the boarding school. Teachers are responsible for guiding students in doing common tasks. Teachers often support students in grades 1-2 who have just left their families and are not yet familiar with the new routine. In addition, students assigned to be on duty to distribute meals will wake up earlier and bring rice and food to each table.

The remaining students will take their bowls and line up to eat breakfast. During breakfast, the middle school students will eat first, while the elementary students will wait to eat later.

Elementary school breakfast usually starts at 6am. The meal usually consists of two dishes, such as soup, boiled eggs, and a pot of rice. The children invite their teachers and friends in unison and eagerly enjoy their first meal of the day. The sound of chopsticks and spoons clattering and aluminum trays rustling.

While in the city, many first graders still need their parents to take care of them and coax them to eat, here, the children eat very quickly, sometimes finishing their meal in just 10 minutes without anyone urging them. Almost all the rice and food on the table are either completely gone or there is a little left after the meal. “Only after the storm and flood, when there are many candies from the visiting uncles and aunts, the children do not eat well, so the teachers see that the rice pot is still full after the meal, but normally the children eat well and very quickly,” said teacher Vu Ngoc Anh.

After eating, students, whether young or old, take their bowls to wash themselves. The entire Trung Leng Ho Primary and Secondary Boarding School has 20 classes, including 12 primary classes and 8 secondary classes. Most of the boarding students are from grade 3 and above, while the majority of the students in grades 1-2 study at 3 school locations in the villages. Currently, the whole school has 5-6 boarding students in grades 1-2, usually those who have older siblings living here or because the village has too few students to open a new school.

After the meal, the students who have a cleaning schedule will go to class early to clean the school yard, stairs, classrooms, etc.

When the school bell rings, students rush into their classrooms, starting the first lesson of the day. In the picture is Sung Duc Nham, a 5th grader. Nham does not stay at the boarding school but goes home because his house is near the school. Nham lives with his 2 older sisters, his father passed away early, his mother works far away and only comes home a few times a year.

Teacher Tan Chiep Chiem is a Dao ethnic. Also from the mountains and having studied away from home, staying in a boarding school since childhood, she understands the hardships of her students and always encourages them to try their best to study. “Because their parents are still struggling, the children may not have good conditions, their clothes are no longer new, they have little pocket money, but at school they are well fed, warmly dressed, and study well,” she confided.

After two sessions of studying, living and eating at school, in the evening, from 8pm, boarding students will voluntarily return to class to review and do homework together. Teachers who stay at school also take turns to support the students in managing the class and giving additional instructions on their lessons.

“The children here are very well-behaved and affectionate. Last night, some girls peeked outside my room and shyly gave me handwritten letters and homemade postcards. Having been close to the students both in class and in their daily lives in the dormitory, I miss and miss them so much,” said Ms. Ban Thi Tuoi, a teacher who had been with this school for 12 years, 7 months and 10 days before transferring at the beginning of this school year.

A teacher waded through mud for 2 hours carrying potatoes and rice back to school, a teacher stayed up all night to watch over her students after the storm and flood. A week after the flood swept through, students in Bat Xat, Lao Cai were brought back to school by their teachers after many days of being separated and isolated due to landslides.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/mot-ngay-bat-dau-tu-5-gio-sang-tai-truong-cua-hoc-sinh-vung-cao-2338147.html