Rural teachers ford the educational gap

VietNamNet Bridge | Jan. 27, 2009 (Special Report)

Many young teachers dream of spacious schools with modern equipment, but after graduating university, Hoang Thi Huong ventured to remote Rao Tre Village, where she had to swim across a river every morning just to reach her students.

Food or education

After graduation Huong found herself inspired by the plight of the province’s Ma Lieng ethnic people, who live in poor conditions in a remote area of the province. These children are often ... Full Story »

Posted by Kristin Gorski

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3.5

by Kristin Gorski - Jan. 27, 2009

A solid ground-level report on how local teachers strove to help children belonging to one of Vietnam's ethnic minorities attend kindergarten and beyond. A compelling story of school success under very difficult circumstances. At points, the narrative thread is disorganized, making the chronology a bit unclear. Including statistics on how this education model fits into the rest of the educational system in Vietnam would have added important context.

At first teachers went to each family to explain the benefits of an education, but their efforts were often ineffective since children were needed at home, says Linh. ... More »

Kristin posted this story.

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3.4

by Dale Penn - Jan. 27, 2009

A touching story of human determination, this leaves me wanting a book or documentary to provide the missing context and provide answers as to what lead to this situation in the first place. Unfamiliar with this publication, it is hard to know just how much courage was required by the author to write such a story, or know if it is trustworthy.

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