For Vàng Thị Máy, a teacher at Hà Xúng Primary School in the northern province of Hà Giang, a day usually begins at 4 o’clock in the morning. After preparing breakfast for her family, she leaves home at 5 o’clock, driving about 30km to the school in Phố Cáo Commune, Đồng Văn District. The winding hilly roads in the remote mountainous area challenge her driving skills, particularly during foggy or rainy days. Boarding house for teachers of Lương Thế Vinh High School in Ba Đồn Town, central Quảng Bình Province. – Photo baoquangbinh.vn Máy remembered many times, she fell off her motorbike while driving but found no one to ask for help. She just sat down and waited for the pain to be relieved and continued the journey. “The way home seems longer and rougher as I finish work at school in late afternoon,” Máy said, adding that she was afraid of driving the last 10km home because of the terrible road. “It’s sometimes so foggy that I cannot see my feet. In rainy days, the road is so muddy and slippery,” Máy told Xây dựng (Construction) newspaper. It costs her at least VNĐ1.5 million (US$66) monthly to travel to the school by motorbike while her total monthly salary is about VND6 million (USD264). Another teacher at Hà Xúng Primary School, Mừng Thị Bảy, stays near the school because her home is over 130km away. On weekends, she usually catches a coach to visit her family who are living in… [Read full story]
Teachers in the mountainous province of Lai Chau’s Ta Mit Commune experience harsh conditions, including having to ford rivers or climb up narrow mountain paths to get food for their schools. Two teachers carefully crossing a mountain path to Ta Mit Kindergarten In order to go from the centre of Tan Uyen District to Ta Mit Kindergarten in Ta Mit Commune, the teachers have to spend VND100,000 to VND150,000 per person to travel on boat and then still have to walk across part of the river as the water level this season is too low. It takes two hours…... [read more]
Teachers in the mountainous province of Lai Chau’s Ta Mit Commune experience harsh conditions, including having to ford rivers or climb up narrow mountain paths to get food for their schools. Carefully crossing a mountain path In order to go from the centre of Tan Uyen District to Ta Mit Kindergarten in Ta Mit Commune, the teachers have to spend VND100,000 to VND150,000 per person to travel on boat and then still have to walk across part of the river as the water level this season is too low. It takes two hours to cross the river and another hour…... [read more]
The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has finalized a draft circular on guiding the promotion of border trade in 2010 in which, providing financial support for the distribution of Vietnamese products to the remote mountain and border areas is an issue of major concern to businesses and entrepreneurs. The newly-drafted circular has already captured close attention from managers, functional agencies and enterprises to businesspeople and consumers. It focuses on how to bring Vietnamese goods abroad by encouraging businesses to develop export supporting services at border gates and develop the distribution networks in the countries bordering Vietnam. Under the trade…... [read more]
VietNamNet Bridge - There are teachers from lowland who go to remote mountainous areas of Thanh Son, Trung Thanh and Trung Son of Quan Hoa district in Thanh Hoa province, to bring literacy to local residents. Tet will come in nearly two months, and it is now the right time for people to plan their trips to home villages to enjoy Tet with families and relatives. For all Vietnamese people, Tet is a reunion party. However, the teachers in the mountainous areas of Thanh Hoa province do not plan to go home this year, because they dare not spend money…... [read more]
“It is unfair on the part of thousands of teachers who have to surmount many difficulties to bring general knowledge and the light of life to ethnic minority pupils living in especially difficult circumstances. Since 2009, the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) has worked with provincial People’s Committees to move teachers who have taught for between 5-10 years in disadvantaged areas to better areas if they wish,” This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien Nhan in a letter sent to teachers and pupils’ parents on the occasion of Vietnam Teachers’ Day,…... [read more]