From elementary school to College de Mytho
On March 17, 1879, Governor of Cochinchina Lafont signed a decree establishing the Cochinchina Education Department and the education system. Accordingly, each province had a primary school called the provincial school, teaching from grade five to grade one (corresponding to grades 1 to 5 today, in the past, grade five was the smallest grade). The first school in My Tho was located near the Dieu Hoa village office, then moved near the Bo Chinh building. After taking office as Governor of Cochinchina, on June 14, 1880, Le Myre de Vilers issued a supplementary decree, allowing My Tho province to upgrade its primary school to Collège de Mytho.
In the early stages, the school had only one ground floor and one upper floor, with the main gate facing Rue d'Ariès (now Le Loi Street). In 1918 - 1919, the school built two more solid upper floors, one in the north along Ngo Quyen Street, and one in the south along the current Le Dai Hanh Street. According to the 1937 My Tho Province Gazetteer, after 1930, the school had two more two-story buildings. The ground floor was for classrooms, and the upper floor was for boarding students with 286 beds.
Nguyen Dinh Chieu School today
Row of houses facing Nguyen Dinh Chieu School
The school's rules are very strict: From 5am, students must wake up to do physical exercises and personal hygiene. Breakfast at 6:30am, class from 7am to 10am. Lunch at 10:30am, class from 2pm to 4pm, dinner at 5:30pm and bedtime at 9pm. There are 5 school days a week, with Thursday and Sunday off. All expenses are covered by the budget, and books are provided free of charge. From 1889 to 1896, due to lack of funds, the school temporarily suspended the secondary school system, leaving only the primary school level.
In 1957, along with the construction of 10 more classrooms, Collège de Mytho expanded to the west, adjacent to today's Hung Vuong Street, creating a U-shaped campus with a total area of over 40,000 m2 . At this time, the main gate of the school was also moved to Hung Vuong Street.
Open branch in Can Tho
At first, at the primary level (3 years), Collège de Mytho accepted students from 10 to 14 years old, and at the secondary level (4 years) from 12 to 17 years old. French was the main language. From 1951 to 1952, the school began to switch to the Vietnamese program. Each year, one more class of the Vietnamese program was added and one class of the French program was reduced. French became a foreign language subject.
In 1917, Collège de Mytho opened a branch in Can Tho under the name Collège de Cantho (this branch was later changed to Phan Thanh Gian High School and is now Chau Van Liem High School). At that time, students who completed primary school at Collège de Cantho would be able to take the entrance exam to Collège de Mytho. In 1925 - 1926, Collège de Cantho opened all classes at the secondary level and separated from Collège de Mytho.
The horizontal rows of the school
Traditional school house
In 1928, the primary classes were separated from Collège de Mytho and transferred to My Tho Primary School for Boys (now Xuan Dieu Secondary School). Near the end of 1957, when Le Ngoc Han Secondary School for Girls was established, all female students were transferred to this school. From then on, Nguyen Dinh Chieu School was only for male students, until 1975.
In 1941 - 1942, Collège de Mytho was requisitioned by the Japanese as a military base. After the Japanese withdrew, Collège de Mytho changed its name to Collège Le Myre de Vilers. On March 22, 1953, the Minister of National Education of Vietnam Nguyen Thanh Giung signed a decree to change the school's name to Nguyen Dinh Chieu High School.
Unique traditional house
According to Principal Vo Hoai Nhan Trung, Nguyen Dinh Chieu School was rebuilt in 2012 with a scale of 1 ground floor, 3 floors according to the old architecture, but retained a row as the school's traditional building. This is where many valuable artifacts and images are kept, like a unique miniature museum, including many photos taken when the school was still called Collège Le Myre de Vilers.
The most impressive is the "Tien Vang Duong" established before 1931 - a place to worship and pay tribute to the teachers who worked at the school, including the board of directors and principals through the periods since 1881. Among them are French principals such as: Alfred André (1881 - 1885), Émile Joseph Roucoules (1885 - 1887), Louis Ferru (1888 - 1889)... and the first Vietnamese principal, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Giung (1942 - 1945).
Travel Money
In particular, the altar of Mrs. Bosson, who before her death wished to leave her remains as a specimen for students to study, is still preserved in a glass cabinet. Every year, on December 22, the school organizes a very solemn memorial service according to traditional rituals with the spirit of respecting teachers.
The school's traditional house still preserves many artifacts such as teachers' salary tables, grade books, records, student reports and many pictures of outstanding and successful alumni, famous people who studied at the school, such as: Professor Nguyen Van Huong, Doctor Nguyen Duy Cuong, Professor Truong Cong Trung, lawyer Tran Cong Tuong, architect Huynh Tan Phat, Professor Tran Dai Nghia... In the list of outstanding students of Collège de Mytho, there are also cai luong composer Nam Chau, writer Ho Bieu Chanh, patriot Nguyen An Ninh, genius Tran Van Trach, famous industrialist Truong Van Ben, general Nguyen Huu Hanh, pilot Nguyen Thanh Trung...
In the traditional house of Nguyen Dinh Chieu School, there is also a dedicated area to display images and artifacts related to Chairman of the Council of Ministers Pham Hung, an excellent student who was the school's first party cell secretary under the name Pham Van Thien.
According to Province de Mytho in 1937, among the famous people who taught at Collège de Mytho were Mr. Nguyen Van Tam, father of scholar Nguyen Duy Can, who worked as the Inspector of Education in My Tho and was awarded the title of Governor; Mr. Trinh Hoai Nghia, nephew of Trinh Hoai Duc, who taught Vietnamese literature and wrote poetry famously at that time; Mr. Nguyen Van Nhan, owner of Anh Sang Publishing House; Mr. Le Van Vang, director of Tan Viet Publishing House; and former Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam Tran Van Huong, teacher of General Duong Van Minh.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/truong-xua-o-nam-ky-luc-tinh-ngoi-truong-qua-3-the-ky-185250113225414115.htm
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