Turn your home into a classroom
For more than 3 years now, Mr. Thach Ken's house in An Phu hamlet, Ke Sach town (Ke Sach district, Soc Trang province) has become an "impromptu" classroom. It is called a classroom but there are no tables, chairs, or classrooms. The teachers have not attended any pedagogical training courses and the students only need to know, understand, and speak Vietnamese and Khmer.
Mr. Thach Ken shared that An Phu hamlet has many Khmer people living together with Vietnamese people, but most of them do not speak Vietnamese well, so they just stay at home. Khmer children at school mainly learn Vietnamese, there are few lessons on Khmer language and culture, so they only know how to communicate, and their writing is limited.
"I am also Khmer, graduated from the Southern Pali Intermediate Cultural Supplementary School, so I want to open a class at home to teach Khmer and Vietnamese for free to the children in the neighborhood" - Mr. Ken shared.
Mr. Ken said that because he only completed high school, he initially encountered difficulties. To prepare lectures and convey knowledge most accurately, he had to proactively learn more knowledge on the internet through teaching forums to find the best teaching method for students.
In addition to teaching knowledge, he also spends time teaching students communication skills and how to behave. Therefore, the students here are very obedient and polite.
At the end of each course, he gives the students a test. Those who pass the test will continue to study the advanced program and receive incentives.
“In the past 3 years, hundreds of students studying here have made remarkable progress. Khmer students understand and are fluent in Vietnamese, while Vietnamese students also understand the culture and language of the Khmer people. Many Khmer people have confidently communicated and become closer to Vietnamese people,” Mr. Ken said excitedly.
Thach Hoang Phuc in Ke Sach town (Ke Sach district, Soc Trang province) shared: "I am Khmer but I don't know how to read and write, I only know how to speak. Thanks to studying with teacher Ken, now I know how to read and write my ethnic language."
The Class of the Green Uniform Teacher
Saying goodbye to teacher Thach Ken's class, the reporter went to Lai Hoa Border Guard Station, Soc Trang Border Guard - where there are teachers in green uniforms teaching students for the past 3 summers.
Major Soc Dung - Deputy Political Commissar of Lai Hoa Border Guard Station, Soc Trang Border Guard - said that last August, the unit had just finished a Khmer language and literacy class for local students. The class had 33 students participating, held right at Lai Hoa Border Guard Station. The teachers directly teaching were Khmer ethnic cadres working at the unit, with good qualifications and knowledge.
"At the end of the course, 100% of the students met the requirements to speak, understand and write common words in Khmer" - Major Soc Dung excitedly said.
According to Major Dung, teaching Khmer children writing and speaking has contributed to strengthening the relationship between the army and the people in remote areas and border areas. Through the classes, students in the area have gradually become able to speak, listen, understand and write well in their ethnic language.
Major Huynh Net - Captain of the boat, Lai Hoa Border Guard Station, Soc Trang Border Guard - the teacher who directly teaches Khmer to the children - said: "Although we did not graduate from a pedagogical major, as a teacher teaching children vowels, consonants, independent vowels... we all have to research and learn how to share and teach them in the easiest way to understand and grasp".
Soc Trang has over 30% of the population being Khmer ethnic people. In recent years, the locality has always paid attention to improving the intellectual level, education, and preserving the language and writing of the Khmer people. As of July 2024, the whole province has 86 Khmer Theravada pagodas in 11/11 districts, towns, and cities, organizing 490 classes with more than 12,313 people participating in learning Khmer language and script during the summer, with the participation of 490 monks and Achar, the instruction time is 25,452 days/101,808 class periods.
