The green-uniformed teacher has taught poor students in Nha Trang for 20 years.

For the past 20 years, Major Nguyen Van Tuong (Cau Bong Border Post, under the Khanh Hoa Provincial Border Guard Command) has been regularly teaching poor students in Nha Trang.

Mr. Tuong wholeheartedly instructs his students - Photo: TRAN HOAI

The light of the classroom shines out from the dark slope in group 19, Truong Phuc (Vinh Phuoc ward, Nha Trang city). The classroom of the teacher in green uniform has illuminated many generations of students on their path to find knowledge.

From love to poor children in Nha Trang

20 years ago, when he was assigned to work at Cau Bong Border Post, carrying out the task of mobilizing the masses, Major Nguyen Van Tuong said that at that time, Vinh Phuoc ward was a place where many social evils occurred, many children could not go to school because their family circumstances were too difficult, unfortunate, or orphaned.

Loving the children, Mr. Tuong immediately thought of opening a class to help them learn to read and write, because if their lives consisted of wandering around and doing hard work in a complex environment, he did not know what their future would be like.

Later, with the support of the locality and the leaders of Cau Bong Border Post, Mr. Tuong opened this class at the cultural house of Group 19, Truong Phuc.

"At first, finding and persuading the children to go to school was extremely difficult. Having been introduced to society at an early age, the children were quite stubborn and difficult to manage. Many of them were indifferent and reacted harshly to me. But because I loved them so much, I tried to persuade them and used many methods to bring them here to teach," Mr. Tuong recounted.

Mr. Tuong's class has been maintained for 20 years with many generations of students - Photo: TRAN HOAI

In the early days, there were only 5-6 students in the class. Later, when many parents came to see him, Mr. Tuong went from house to house to verify the situation, encouraged the children to come to class, and gradually the class became more crowded.

Having no expertise in pedagogy, Mr. Tuong searched for documents, made lesson plans and practiced to help students understand the lesson quickly and absorb knowledge firmly.

The wish of the green uniform teacher

Up to now, Mr. Tuong has taught more than 200 students. He is currently teaching more than 40 students from grades 1 to 5 in the evenings from Monday to Friday every week.

Students here range in age from 7 to 20, many are 13-14 years old but are only in 3rd or 4th grade.

Teacher Tuong said that most of the children have special circumstances. Some do not know their parents, some have parents in prison, their families are involved in social evils so no one cares, some have worked since childhood to earn a living with jobs such as collecting scrap metal, selling lottery tickets, or working as construction workers.

Image of a teacher wearing a military uniform, close and devoted to his students - Photo: TRAN HOAI

One of the students in Mr. Tuong's class is VTGL (13 years old, from Vinh Ngoc commune, Nha Trang city). L. has a very special family situation: his mother is serving a prison sentence, his father has no stable job, and he doesn't care much about his children. Because of family difficulties, L. was not able to go to school. It wasn't until he was 10 years old that L. came to Mr. Tuong's class to study first grade.

"I am very happy to go to Mr. Tuong's class every day to study, meet my friends and receive his dedicated guidance. I am very grateful that when I did not have the opportunity to go to school, he came and brought me back to his class to teach me my first lessons" - L. shared.

As for HTP (20 years old), he is mentally retarded and has epilepsy, so he cannot go to school like his friends. However, every night, P. still regularly goes to Mr. Tuong's class to learn the first lessons when he is in his twenties.

Major Nguyen Van Tuong shared that the motivation for him to maintain this class for many years is to see the students grow, even if it is just the most basic lessons.

"I hope that through my lessons, the students will grow up and not have to face the negative aspects of society at such a young age. Perhaps until I retire, I will try to maintain the class to help the students find knowledge," Mr. Tuong confided.

Enthusiastic staff, dedicated teacher

Lieutenant Colonel Bui Van Tung - political commissar of Cau Bong Border Post - said that in his professional work as a cadre carrying out mass mobilization work, Major Nguyen Van Tuong always completed his tasks well and was an outstanding emulation soldier of the unit for many years.

"Major Nguyen Van Tuong's opening and maintaining of the class for many years is a noble gesture, a humane act that can both teach children in difficult circumstances and create conditions for propaganda and mobilization work for local people" - Mr. Tung shared.

Mr. Tung also said that to maintain the class, there is also help from local authorities and philanthropists, supporting the children with books, learning tools, organizing entertainment, activities and giving gifts to the children on Tet and Mid-Autumn Festivals...

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nguoi-thay-quan-ham-xanh-20-nam-gioo-chu-cho-hoc-tro-ngheo-o-nha-trang-20241114142041394.htm