Teacher's feelings
Currently, in the communes bordering Cambodia in An Phu district (An Giang province), there are over 1,000 students from across the border studying at public schools. Of these, A Khanh An Primary School has 355 students, accounting for 30% of the total school population.
"To go to school, students have to spend a lot of time and effort, so most of them are very good and try very hard. But because they have to wake up early in the morning, some children fall asleep on their desks when they come to class. At those times, I feel so sorry for them that I don't blame them, I just tell them to wash their faces and continue studying. As for me, I hide my emotions and turn away" - Ms. Nguyen Kim Phi (teacher at A Khanh An Primary School) choked up when talking about the students who are children of overseas Vietnamese who come to An Giang to study their mother tongue.
Ms. Phi has been teaching for more than 10 years and most of her classes have overseas Vietnamese students. In the 2024-2025 school year, her class has 36 students, but 33 of them live in Cambodia.
Ms. Phi said that at the age when they should be in 5th or 6th grade, many children are currently only in 2nd grade due to limited conditions, especially the long period of isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, contacting parents can only be done by phone.
“At the beginning of the school year, parent-teacher meetings were also very difficult. Not because the parents did not care, but because of the geographical distance and the need to work hard to take care of the children. After a while, each parent took the initiative to arrange a private meeting with me. Some even sent some freshwater fish or a bunch of vegetables with the affectionate words, "Please accept it for my happiness." It was very touching to hear that," Ms. Phi said.
Ms. Do Thi Binh - Principal of A Khanh An Primary School - said that after school, while other children have the opportunity to go home to eat with their families, overseas Vietnamese students either eat cold rice brought from home, or have to eat at a stall in front of the school gate.
"Those images made me try very hard, with all my ability, to work with the teachers in the school to maintain the number of students, to create the best possible conditions for the students to learn, know, and understand about the national culture," said Ms. Binh.
Happiness in the future
Speaking with Lao Dong Newspaper reporter, Mr. Vo Hoang Lam - Head of the Department of Education and Training of An Phu district - said that calculating a stable solution in the future for both students and teachers, the People's Committee of An Giang province has a policy of building a boarding school for 2 levels (primary and secondary) located in Khanh An commune to have a safe and convenient learning environment, ensuring health and knowledge acquisition for students.
"This will be the premise for children to study in higher grades, creating a future labor force, ensuring skills, avoiding the hardships like their parents. Above all, it is a humane policy in An Giang's education sector," said Mr. Lam.
As expected, with favorable progress, the school will be put into operation in early 2026. An Giang province plans to use the land area of the Khanh An Commune Cultural and Community Learning Center to build a boarding school.
"Hearing the news that we will be studying at a new school in the near future, we are very happy, not for ourselves but for the children. From now on, the children will be able to study in a new, spacious, clean classroom, and will not have to wake up early to catch the ferry every morning," Ms. Phi said.
