Teachers in the mountainous areas of Da Nang visit each house to encourage students to come to class

Maintaining the highland captain

After heavy rain due to the impact of storm No. 5, the school yard of Dang Primary and Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Tay Giang commune) was covered with mud. Taking advantage of the sunny weather, teachers and students are busy cleaning: clearing sewers, cleaning tables and chairs, and decorating classrooms. bougainvillea and ribbons are hung all over the windows of the primary school block, and the trees in the schoolyard are neatly trimmed.

Mr. Nguyen Trung Tam - Principal of the school said that although the center is far away and the conditions are still lacking, the preparation work has been completed. In the 2025-2026 school year, the school has 276 students, of which 37 are first graders and 28 are sixth graders, reaching 100% of those mobilized to attend classes. Facilities have been significantly improved: there are no more temporary classrooms, all schools have clean water after the locality mobilized more than 250 million VND to install a water filtration system and renovate the toilet area.

At Nguyen Binh Khiem Boarding Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities (Tra Doc commune), preparation work does not stop at clearing classrooms and repairing rooms. From the beginning of the summer, teachers have stayed in the area, going to their homes to encourage students to go to class. "Some parents, due to difficulties, want to keep their children at home as breadwinners, and teachers have to come many times to convince them. In addition to the mobilization, we also asked for support from the government, organizations, and benefactors to give them books, bicycles, and clothes" - Mr. Vu Hoang Tam, Principal of the school said.

Thanks to that perseverance, 716 students - mainly children of ethnic minorities - have returned to school. The full presence of the students is the result of a process of efforts to mobilize and closely support.

Ms. Bling Thi Hoa, a parent in Tra Doc commune, shared: "My family is poor, and at first I planned to let my children take a day off from school to help their parents do the farming. But teachers came to encourage and support books, so my husband and I decided to let our child go to class. Thanks to teachers, our children have better opportunities to study.

Solving the problem of teacher shortage

While facilities are gradually improving, the shortage of teachers is still a concern in many schools. At Huynh Thuc Khang Primary and Secondary School (Que Phuoc Commune), there are 10 classes in the new school year but only 15 positions, forcing the school to contract 8 more teachers. "Many teachers have to teach outside of their expertise, affecting quality. The locality has repeatedly recommended that the city organize an educational employee recruitment exam to supplement it in a timely manner" - Mr. Doan Van Sinh, Principal shared.

In Tra Tan, Tra My, Tien Phuoc and Thuong Duc communes, local surplus and shortage also occur frequently. Some places have a shortage of teachers for specialized subjects, while others have a local surplus because each block only has one class. The temporary solution is a contract, transfer, or enhancement between schools or an inter-school teaching organization. However, this is also difficult because it is necessary to ensure travel time and travel conditions.

According to statistics, Tien Phuoc commune alone currently has 316 cadres, teachers, and employees, of which 261 people are directly in charge of the class. Compared to the demand, the number is still lacking, forcing the locality to contract 46 additional cases. At the same time, the repair and upgrading of schools and adding teaching equipment are also being implemented, with a total budget proposed for the city to support more than 6.9 billion VND.