At night, the literacy class of Captain - "teacher in green uniform" Lo Van Thoai (Nam Lanh Border Post, Son La Provincial Border Guard) is lit up again, echoing with the reading voices of students of different ages from 14 to 60 years old.

For over 2 years now, thanks to Mr. Thoai's literacy class, the lives of people in Muong Va commune (Sop Cop district, Son La) have changed a lot.​

Literacy class of teacher Lo Van Thoai

Sharing about the process of opening a literacy class, Mr. Lo Van Thoai said that in early 2022, implementing the transfer decision of the Son La Provincial Border Guard Command, Mr. Thoai was assigned to work at Nam Lanh Border Guard Station, the unit managing two communes Nam Lanh and Muong Va, these are also two communes with harsh geographical locations, very difficult roads, low educational level, slow economic development, especially in the border villages.

“From the above situation, I am an employee of the Mass Mobilization Team with the desire to contribute a small part of my efforts to help people develop the economy, culture and society. During a working trip in 2022 in Muong Va commune, my teammates and I went to Pa Khoang village, about 20km from the commune center. At first, we thought it would take about 40-50 minutes to reach the village, but then we waded through streams and crossed passes for more than two hours to get there. That is on sunny days, but if it rains, it can be said that no one can go in or out.

After staying with Pa Khoang for 2 days, we realized that there are still many difficulties here, especially in terms of roads, economy, culture, society... The situation of re-illiteracy and illiteracy, early marriage, incestuous marriage... makes me always worry and wonder how to help people here learn to read, write their names, read newspapers, know how to do household economics, know how to apply scientific advances to labor production, and stabilize their lives", Mr. Thoai shared.

From those thoughts, Mr. Thoai believed that in order for people to change their lives, they must first become literate. Thinking so, Mr. Thoai boldly proposed, reviewed, and made a list of cases of re-illiteracy and illiteracy in the village, and at the same time advised the Party Committee and unit commander to coordinate with the Department of Education and Training of Sop Cop district to open an illiteracy eradication class in Pa Khoang village.

Teachers must also learn to be teachers.

Talking about the early days of establishing the class, Mr. Thoai still cannot forget the difficulties he experienced. The most difficult of which was to persuade students to come to class. For many days, Mr. Thoai had to persistently go to each house, persuading each person to come to class. When students came to class, there were still cases of them dropping out halfway, at that time, Mr. Thoai had to cross the forest, wade through streams to each house to do ideological work, so that people would have the determination to pursue education.

Students in Mr. Lo Van Thoai's literacy class are of different ages.

Mr. Thoai's literacy class has many different ages, including many students who are the main breadwinners in the family and have to work in the fields during the day, so the class has to be held in the evening.

After more than 2 years of propaganda and mobilization, the class has grown from 7-8 students to 24 students aged 14-60.

In the evenings, while teaching as a teacher, Mr. Lo Van Thoai's duty was still that of a Border Guard soldier, who had no formal training in pedagogy. Mr. Thoai said that in the early days of opening a literacy class, he had to study and read by himself to gain more pedagogical skills.

“The first few days of class, I myself encountered many difficulties because the students had not held a pen for a long time and were of different ages. Sometimes I had to hold their hands to write the letters e, a... especially when learning to combine letters and rhyme...

But with the motto "eating together, living together, working together, speaking the same language", I have read and researched appropriate teaching materials and methods", Mr. Thoai said.

Bringing letters to light up the borderlands

With his tireless efforts, working as a border guard during the day and teaching literacy at night, Mr. Lo Van Thoai has brought about significant changes for the people of Muong Va. Previously, students did not know how to read or write, especially using the phone was very difficult, they did not know how to save the names of relatives, and every time there was a family matter, they had to walk several kilometers to ask relatives for help.

After attending Mr. Thoai's class, students can now read, write, save their relatives' names on their phones and enjoy going to class more and more. Muong Va people have also realized that learning to read and write not only helps them read and understand books and notebooks, but also helps a lot in daily life, taking care of their children's health, knowing how to raise livestock for economic purposes and being more confident when communicating...

 

Not only teaching letters, in the lessons or extracurricular programs, Mr. Thoai also regularly integrates propaganda content on the implementation of the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws, policies on economic, cultural and social development of the locality, propaganda and dissemination of legal knowledge, security and defense, so that people know the plots and tricks of hostile forces, bad elements often take advantage of ethnic and religious issues to sabotage the Party, the State, local Party committees and authorities.

Paying special attention to child marriage, Mr. Lo Van Thoai always focuses on mobilizing and propagating to change people's awareness.

Mr. Thoai's literacy class not only helps people learn to read and write, but also changes their perception, pushes back backward customs, and develops the family economy.

“Previously, almost every family in the village had early marriage, boys and girls were only 13 years old when they got married and had children. Every family had 4-5 children, each child was only 1-2 years apart. Early marriage and incestuous marriage not only affected health and race but also hindered economic and social development, making people's lives miserable. Since going to school and being exposed to knowledge, people have gradually changed their awareness, and now the rate of early marriage has decreased significantly, to only about 1-2%. People are more concerned about taking care of their children's health, studying, and doing business,” Mr. Thoai happily shared.

In addition to class time, teacher Thoai still guides people on how to farm effectively and how to cultivate to develop the economy.

Among the students he taught, Mr. Lo Van Thoai was especially impressed with Ms. Giang Thi Pa De. Ms. De was illiterate and did not want to go to school. Her husband was in a rehabilitation camp for drug trafficking. Every time she went to visit her husband, she had to ask someone who could read to take her because she could not sign or know the room number.

After being persistently encouraged by Mr. Thoai, realizing the benefits of learning to read and write, Ms. Giang Thi Pa De was determined to go to class. After 9 months of studying, Ms. De could read and write fluently, and constantly excelled in local activities and movements. Currently, Ms. Giang Thi Pa De is the Head of the Women's Association of Nam Lan village, Muong Lan commune. She also actively encouraged illiterate people to come to Mr. Lo Van Thoai's class.

“Since I became literate, I have been able to apply a lot of knowledge to economic development, farming, animal husbandry, and know how to sell products through social networks, bringing in a better source of income and improving my family's economic life,” said Giang Thi Pa De.

Coming to Muong Va, perhaps everyone knows Captain Lo Van Thoai. The people here still call that border guard with the affectionate name "teacher Thoai", or "teacher Thoai".

Working in a place with many difficulties, but for Mr. Thoai, witnessing the daily changes of the people, as well as receiving love from his students, is the biggest motivation for Mr. Thoai to continue to stay in the village, carrying the letters up the mountain with the people to develop the socio-economy.

With his wholehearted dedication, Captain - "green uniform teacher" Lo Van Thoai has received many certificates of merit from the Department of Education and Training, the District People's Committee; certificates of merit from the Department of Education and Training of Son La province, and the Son La Provincial Association for Promotion of Education. In 2023, Captain Lo Van Thoai was an Advanced Soldier/Son La Provincial Border Guard Command. In 2024, teacher Thoai was also one of the exemplary teachers honored in the program "Sharing with teachers" jointly organized by the Ministry of Education and Training and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Youth Union.

According to: vov.vn