In 1992, after graduating from Soc Trang Pedagogical High School, Ms. Do Thi Hoi taught at Lac Hoa 1 Primary School, Lac Hoa Commune, Vinh Chau Town, Soc Trang Province and has been there until now.
Lac Hoa, where Ms. Hoi lives and works, is a poor area with many economic difficulties. What is special is that about 80% of the students here are ethnic minorities, while the Kinh population is very small, so teaching is even more difficult.
Ms. Hoi and her colleagues had to learn the language, culture, customs and practices of the local people to communicate with students, and from there, have effective teaching methods.
In the female teacher's memory, the years when she first started working at the school, the material conditions were still difficult, the classrooms were built with corrugated iron roofs, the rest were all dirt floors and thatched roofs. Traffic was even more difficult. The roads were muddy regardless of rain or shine, the grass on the sidewalks was as tall as your head...
"In recent years, the State has invested in and built relatively stable facilities. But because of low living standards and low education, teaching and learning still has many difficulties. Many families, because they do not have jobs, parents leave their children at home with grandparents, aunts and uncles... to go to work far away. Therefore, the children do not receive good care or much investment in education" - Ms. Hoi shared.
Feeling sorry for disadvantaged students who cannot choose their family circumstances and conditions, Ms. Hoi always tells herself that she must work harder to help students.
Outside of class, with the love and responsibility of a teacher, Ms. Hoi spends time tutoring students who are slow to learn and have not caught up with the lessons. Thanks to that, every year, the classes she teaches always achieve high results, students complete the class program, many students are awarded for their academic achievements and win high prizes in movements.
"I just hope that no student, for any reason, drops out of school halfway," Ms. Hoi shared.
To support students to have the best conditions when going to school, Ms. Hoi also boldly called on benefactors to support them materially and spiritually to help them continue going to school, such as scholarships, bicycles, notebooks, clothes, rice, etc.
As for herself, although her income is not high, she always takes a portion of her small monthly salary to buy her students notebooks, pens... to motivate them to go to school every day.
In particular, she also worked with the local government to open literacy classes for the people in the evening. She mobilized and opened 1 class with 13 students; the local government mobilized 2 classes with 27 students in the evening to eliminate illiteracy and universalize primary education for the local people.
In addition to teaching, Ms. Hoi also has many initiatives and scientific research topics recognized at the grassroots level, 3 initiatives recognized at the provincial level. Many initiatives and topics are applied in practice.
The Board of Directors of Lac Hoa 1 Primary School said that teacher Do Thi Hoi is an excellent teacher, receiving the love and recognition of students, parents and colleagues.
With these achievements, Ms. Do Thi Hoi has been recognized many times as an excellent teacher, an excellent Team Leader and an excellent homeroom teacher at the town and provincial levels; won high prizes in teaching aid design competitions; continuously won the titles of Emulation Fighter at the grassroots level and Emulation Fighter at the provincial level for many years; received many Certificates of Merit from the Prime Minister, the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, the Vietnam Education Trade Union, and the People's Committee of Soc Trang province; and received the "Golden Chalk" award and the "Vo Truong Toan" award.
In 2017, Ms. Do Thi Hoi was awarded the title of Excellent Teacher; in 2018, she was awarded the Third Class Labor Medal; in 2022, she was honored as one of 400 outstanding teachers nationwide on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Vietnamese Teachers' Day. On June 27, 2024, she was awarded the title of People's Teacher by the President.
