Investing in education for a bright future

Through historical periods, the Education and Training sector has constantly innovated and developed, with great contributions from the teaching staff (Photo: DO THANH NHAN)

From the “Anti-illiteracy campaign"

After the victory of the August Revolution in 1945, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam considered the eradication of illiteracy an urgent task. In the first meeting on September 3, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh clearly stated: “Ignorance is one of the insidious methods that the colonialists used to rule us. More than 90% of our people are still illiterate. Yet it only takes 3 months to be able to read and write in our language. An ignorant nation is a weak nation. Therefore, I propose to launch a campaign against illiteracy.”

According to documents and archives, in Tan An province, the campaign to "eliminate illiteracy" was launched in November 1945, attracting thousands of people to study "Uncle Ho's words". The slogan "Going to school is patriotism, teaching is patriotism" resounded everywhere.

In 1975, the country was unified, and Long An province's education entered a period of building a socialist education system in the locality, serving the cause of building and defending the Fatherland. At that time, Long An took over about 307 secondary and primary schools with more than 3,800 teachers, and urgently prepared to organize the opening ceremony of the new school year 1975-1976.

A high school class in Long An province (old)

In addition to quickly returning education to normal, combining the renovation of the old education system and the construction of a new education system, and taking political education and organization building as the central tasks, Long An province also promoted the eradication of illiteracy for workers, and cultural enrichment for cadres and youth, considering it a top priority task, while developing general education and kindergarten and creating favorable conditions for people's children to go to school.

Since July 1975, the movement to eradicate illiteracy and cultural enrichment was deployed simultaneously in all districts and towns in the province. The provincial Education Subcommittee coordinated with authorities at all levels to arrange specialized staff to carry out the work of eradicating illiteracy and cultural enrichment from the province to districts, communes and hamlets. Schools were assigned the task of both teaching general education and participating in illiteracy eradication with the motto "One council, two tasks."

From urban to rural areas, the popular education movement took place vigorously. After only 2 months of launching the campaign (from early July to late August 1975), Long An became the leading flag in the southern provinces, with outstanding achievements in eliminating illiteracy. The spirit of eliminating ignorance in the first days of liberation laid the foundation for the achievements of eliminating illiteracy and universalizing education in Long An in the following years.

In Tay Ninh province (old), according to statistics (the figures may differ due to many different reasons), in the first year of liberation, Tay Ninh had 2,657 general education and kindergarten classes, with a total of more than 95,000 students. The teaching staff had 2,631 people, including about 500 teachers who were trained quickly and teachers who were supported from the North after April 30, 1975.

The school system was mostly left by the old regime in the temporarily occupied areas, and the facilities were degraded. When the education sector developed in rural areas, remote areas, and former liberated areas, schools and classrooms were only built temporarily with thatched roofs and earthen walls. Before the first day of the school year, teachers had to go to school first, both to study and improve their political and professional skills, and to take action in cutting thatch to re-roof and digging clay to rebuild classroom walls.

Class at Nguyen Trai High School (Trang Bang town, former Tay Ninh province)

With 35 years of working in the education sector, Mr. Cao Quang Hai - teacher at Nguyen Van An Secondary School, experienced many initial difficulties and was happy with the development of the education sector today.

Mr. Hai said: “In 1990, Long Thuan commune had a school named Long Thuan Primary and Secondary School. In 1993, the two levels were separated and the secondary school had a new name as it is today: Nguyen Van An Secondary School. When I came to teach here, the school was in a very difficult situation. Teacher had to teach in a collective area with 7 classrooms made of thatched roof and earthen walls. At that time, the school only had 2 rows of rooms; the corrugated iron was cracked, the windows, the tables and chairs were old and dilapidated. Each student's desk was arranged for 4 students, and it was broken back and forth, so the school had to use bamboo sticks to permanently fix them. In the 1990s, there was a huge lack of equipment, so teachers had to make them themselves. Later, with the attention of all levels, the classrooms finally had many learning tools; the school was also clean and beautiful, fully equipped with teaching and learning equipment.”

A new look

Inheriting and continuing the achievements during the resistance war and many years after liberation, the education and training sector has continuously developed. The system of schools and classes has been increasingly invested in, meeting the learning needs of students. In the 2023-2024 school year, Tay Ninh province (old) has 133 kindergartens, 96 kindergartens, with 31,874 preschool children studying semi-boarding, reaching 87.1%, ensuring the education program as well as comprehensive care for children.

In addition, Tay Ninh has 307 general education facilities. Of which, there are 178 primary schools (5 schools less than the 2022-2023 school year), 101 secondary schools and 28 high schools. The total number of general education students in this school year is 194,289. Of which, there are 95,780 primary school students, 68,864 secondary school students, and 29,645 high school students. The average ratio is 3.11 high school education institutions/district-level administrative unit; 1.07 middle school education institutions and 1.89 primary education institutions/commune-level administrative unit.

Thanh Long Secondary School (Chau Thanh District, old Tay Ninh Province)

From July 1, 2025, after the merger, Tay Ninh Province (new) has 1,022 educational institutions from preschool to general education (965 public schools, 60 non-public schools). The whole province has 685 schools meeting national standards, reaching 67.03%. The numbers show the growth in the scale of schools and classes, meeting the learning needs.

In addition, the quality of education is constantly being improved. In particular, the 2018 General Education Program has breathed a new life into the sector on the path of fundamental and comprehensive innovation. The most obvious changes are in schools in remote, isolated, and border areas of the province.

Principal of Khanh Hung Primary School Huynh Minh Nghia said that the school focuses on promoting students' abilities and qualities through active teaching activities, focusing on students, and flexibly combining theory and practice. The innovation of teaching methods not only improves learning efficiency but also creates a dynamic and creative school environment, maintains and continuously improves the quality of mass education, focuses on improving the quality of key movements with focus. Based on the guidelines for implementing the school year tasks issued by the Ministry of Education and Training, the Department of Education and Training directs educational institutions to develop educational plans suitable to the actual conditions of the locality, ensuring both scientific and pedagogical values and ensuring the output standards of the 2018 General Education Program. The school's educational plan ensures consistency between the implementation plan of the 2018 General Education Program and the 2006 General Education Program.

The department also focuses on developing and implementing STEM topics/lessons for a number of subjects to maximize the positivity and proactiveness of students in the teaching and learning process, improving the ability to apply knowledge to solve practical problems, thereby developing the qualities and capacities of students; initially implementing digital citizenship skills education.

The continuous progress of the education and training sector is the sweet fruit of continuous efforts. And those results will be a solid foundation for education and training to continue to grow, meeting the requirements in the era of national development./.

By Staffs - Translated by Q. Thien

Source: https://baolongan.vn/phat-trien-giao-duc-kien-tao-tuong-lai-a200622.html