Huc Primary School is located in the central commune of Khe Sanh (Quang Tri province), but there are 7 separate schools located between mountains and forests. In which Ta Cu school is the most remote and difficult. From the commune center to the school, you have to travel a stone road of more than 15km, passing through 3 large and small streams. Every time it rains heavily, the water rises, the school is isolated.
Here, there are combined classes 1 and 2 with 17 students who are children of the Van Kieu ethnic group. After finishing second grade, they had to move to Cu Dong school, nearly 4km away, to continue studying.
The summer vacation has not ended, but these days, Mr. Ho Duc Trung (born in 1988) - who has been attached to Ta Cu 2 school for this year, has joined the school to encourage students to go to school. In Ta Cu village, people live in clusters, some of them are 3km from the school. Because the students are still young, so they do not know the school attendance schedule, the first-grade students are even stranger, so the male teacher has to go to each house to meet parents, clearly telling the first-grade students to go to school 2 weeks earlier than other classes.
Mr. Trung said that because their families are all poor and disadvantaged, for those who are away from home, if they have to stay at school at noon, their families only prepare a handful of sticky rice and salt for lunch. At noon, the male teacher also stayed at school and cooked by himself, sometimes seeing the students eating too temporarily and unable to hold back their stomachs, so he cooked a little more food to share with the students.
Working in a place with material shortage, Mr. Trung also has to concurrently hold many roles: both as a homeroom teacher, cleaning the classroom, and taking care of students.
"The classroom was built a long time ago, now it is degraded, the doors are unstable, I have to take a steel rope to tie it up. In hot weather, I didn't dare open the door because I couldn't hold it. Without a government office, I took advantage of the old classroom next door to temporarily retire. On days when the flood cannot return, I stay in class" - Mr. Trung confided.
Due to difficult roads, teachers face danger. For example, in April 2025, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hue went to Ta Cu school to strengthen teaching and suffered a broken leg and had to wear a cast.
Despite difficult conditions, Mr. Trung still tries every day, persistently "talking" to his students in the highlands. "I teach combined classes so I try to plan the lesson plan in detail, instructing each student meticulously. I just hope they know how to read, write, and then continue learning" - the teacher said.
Principal Doan Van Anh said that Ta Cu school is currently in a state of serious disrepair because it was built a long time ago, student desks and chairs are not standard, and the roads are very difficult to travel. However, overcoming difficulties, in the midst of the swine forest, teachers like Mr. Trung are still tirelessly lit up the book.
Mr. Doan Van Anh hopes that authorities at all levels will support and join hands to repair the school to be solid, with standard tables and chairs so that teachers can have less hardship and students can go to school safely, so their studies will be better.
