LookAtVietnam – Dinh Thanh Huong, who has taught Ruc ethnic minority students in Minh Hoa District in central Quang Binh Province for 28 years, refuses to be moved to a new position in the lowlands.

A teacher gives a lesson to students in Ta Te Primary School in Nong U Commune, Dien Bien Dong District in northern Dien Bien Province. A draft policy on teacher rotation hasn’t received much support from rural teachers.

“I’ve grown accustomed to the people and way of life here,” he says. “If I’m moved, it will be difficult for my replacement to teach students until they’ve mastered the local language, traditions and customs, which cannot be learnt in one day.”

Huong is one of many teachers snubbing a draft plan by the Ministry of Education and Training to rotate teachers in and out of rural areas.

The project, expected to come into effect by early 2010, regulates that those who have spent over five years teaching in remote regions should be moved into schools in less isolated areas in the lowlands. The plan is lauded as a move to boost the quality of education in mountainous regions and create better conditions for teachers in rural areas.

But the idea has met a lot of resistance from those singled out as the plan’s direct beneficiaries.

Starting from scratch

Dinh Quy Ngan has been teaching 142 ethnic students in Ra Mai Primary School in Minh Hoa District, Quang Binh Province for the last 12 years.

Although his wife and children lived hundreds of kilometres away, Ngan enjoyed teaching the students from Ta Chong, Mang and Si May villages in Trong Hoa Commune.

“Every time I went home, my students would walk me to the edge of the village,” he says. “After 10 years teaching there, I decided to bring my family to live with me near the school.”

Fellow teacher Le Trong Trung has a similar story to tell. After 20 years teaching in Muong Ly District, Trung married a local girl and now considers the area his second home.

Not only would teachers have to get accustomed to a different way of life, they would also have to adapt to different teaching methods, says headmaster of Trung Leng Ho Primary School Ngo Van Lang in Bat Xat District, Lao Cai Province. “Many teachers would only want to return to work in the lowlands if there was an emergency,” he says

Quach Tam, representative of Thuong Trach Commune’s People’s Committee in Bo Trach District, Quang Binh Province, says many teachers volunteer to work in the area from eight to 10 years.

“New teachers would face the same language barriers their predecessors tackled and a lot of time would be wasted overcoming them.”

Criticism of the draft plan is also rife among lowland teachers.

“I don’t think moving teachers to and from mountainous areas is the best way to improve education,” says Bui Thanh Van at Ha Noi City’s Nguyen Hue city High School.

“Teachers need to want to be in a certain environment before they can do a good job for their students,” she says.

Nguyen Ba Thu, head of the Education and Training Department of Ba Thuoc District in Thanh Hoa Province admits the plan would be difficult to implement.

“Proper measures will have to be taken to fit the needs of every region,” he says.

Wrong priorities

Some teachers are arguing that the focus of the plan is wrong, and more should be done to improve facilities and resources in rural schools.

Trinh Dinh Phuc, a teacher in the mountainous Lung Cao Commune, Ba Thuoc District, Thanh Hoa Province, says he has to light a fire in the middle of the classroom to keep his students focused on lessons during the winter.

“I think the Government should concentrate on improving classroom resources. Rotating teachers isn’t going to make a big difference.” Phuc says.

“At this school there are only four people in charge of teaching 100 students from grades six to nine.”

Phan Van Thanh, teacher at Xuan Trach Secondary School in Bo Trach District, Quang Binh Province agrees. “The priority should be better living conditions, that would encourage more teachers to stay in remote areas.”

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News