Teachers take Tet to the hills

VietNamNet Bridge – As people rush around getting ready for Tet, many teachers in the northwestern mountains try to bring the festivities to poor ethnic students in remote areas – for two reasons. Firstly, they want to keep the youngsters happy, and secondly, around home firesides, they want to encourage them to return to school after the holidays.

A class at Ba Vinh Secondary School in central Quang Ngai Province. – Photo tuoitre.vn

Although located in a remote and difficult area of Bao Yen District in Lao Cai Province, teachers from Tan Tien Boarding School each year organise a Tet programme to show students how to make chung (sticky rice) cakes. The teachers also raise funds to buy clothes and gifts for them.

They also visit the families of students in remote areas where the terrain is so rough, it looks like the roads end in heaven.  

Teachers from Bao Yen High School in Lao Cai Province have spent days visiting students’ homes, most of whom come from the Tay, Mong and Dao ethnic groups.

Despite the icy coldness, the teachers crossed springs and roared up slippery slopes to reach remote villages to present Tet gifts.

Quan Van Thuong, deputy head of Bao Yen school, said the school divided teachers into many teams so that they could cover the region quickly and efficiently. They mostly travel by motorbikes or on foot.

Each trip helps the teachers understand the lives and culture of their students, according to one teacher.

Teacher Nguyen Sy Tuan from Bao Yen school told the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that travelling 20km up one mountain and then another 10km down the other side to reach homes in Mong Lung Ac Village made teachers feel the great determination of their students.

The visits also helped students and their parents feel happier about welcoming Tet, he said.

“Gathering with students and their parents around the cooking fire to talk and sing has great meaning and warmth,” teacher Nguyen Anh Vu from Lao Cai Province told the newspaper.

Teachers also encourage students, particularly those from remote areas, to return to school after Tet, despite the difficulties.

After a long holiday, students often do not want to return to school. Before and after the Tet holiday, ethnic people have many festivals of their own. Besides, many parents want their children to quit school and work to earn some money for the family.

Ba Vinh Secondary School in central Quang Ngai Province’s Ba To District drew lessons from past Tet holidays by asking each teacher to raise awareness about attending school to both parents and students.

Many students are from H’re ethnic group, which has a tradition of enjoying long Tet festivals, which prevent many students from returning to school.

In Tay Tra District, where many people are from the Ca Dong ethnic group, teachers meet the parents of every student to persuade them to let their children go to school. Most of people in the group prefer to take their children into the forest to find wood to sell. 

Source: VNS