The fulcrum at the threshold of the lecture hall

Besides the busy daily work of a teacher, a passion of teacher Nguyen Manh Tuan, Tuan Giao High School, Dien Bien province is charity work.

Teacher Nguyen Manh Tuan teaches students at Tuan Giao High School, Dien Bien province.

In the 2025-2026 school year, teacher Tuan decided to support 10 students with especially difficult circumstances who have just passed the university entrance exam, with a rate of 2 million VND/student/month for four years. The amount is deducted from the monthly teaching salary and personal savings.

Born and raised in the poor province of Dien Bien, the teacher born in 1986 understands and loves students with difficult circumstances but with the will to rise up. That is why he has cherished and pondered on doing something for them before the new school year.

Difficult lives

Meeting Mr. Tuan during the historic days of the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day September 2, I thought that the Tuan Giao teacher had returned to Hanoi to join in the bustling atmosphere of the country, but I learned that this trip was for the project to build Tho Lo school belonging to Ban Bua Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, Bung Lao Commune (formerly Muong Ang District, Dien Bien) for which he is mobilizing donations. Over a cup of strong tea, I also heard him share another joy when he was able to support and help 13 students to be able to attend university from the 2025-2026 school year. It is worth mentioning that 10 of these students were fully supported by his monthly teaching salary and personal savings.

Teacher Tuan said that all 13 students have extremely difficult circumstances, some of them are orphans of one parent, some of them are even orphans of both parents. However, the admirable thing is that all 13 students achieved good results in the high school graduation exam and were admitted to prestigious universities, with desirable faculties and majors, with very high scores.

For example, Lo Thi Doan, an orphan, currently lives with her grandparents in Na Lanh village, Na Son commune, but passed the History Department of Hanoi Pedagogical University with a score of 29. According to teacher Tuan, Doan won the first prize in History in Dien Bien province for three years.

Or the case of Dieu Chinh An, who graduated from the History Department of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Hanoi National University), is also quite special. An and his brother have been together since childhood after their father passed away and their mother remarried. The two brothers only cut grass, herded buffaloes, and chopped firewood... When mentioning the two brothers, everyone in the old town of Muong Lay sympathized. When he learned about Mr. Tuan, his brother begged for help because An wanted to drop out of school due to lack of money. And Mr. Tuan helped An with the tuition so that he could enroll on August 29.

However, the most determined and admirable student is probably Ly A Nhia, who passed the entrance exam to the Faculty of Primary Education, Tay Bac Pedagogical University. In 2022, the H'Mong boy passed the entrance exam to the Faculty of Geography, Tay Bac Pedagogical University, but because his family was too poor, he had to drop out of school. In 2023, Nhia joined the army and in the military environment, realizing that studying was the door to opening up the future, he was determined to both self-study and practice. Thanks to that, in 2025, he registered to retake the exam and scored 26.75 points (the priority score is 27.58), while 27 points is enough to pass the Primary Education Faculty. According to Mr. Tuan, Nhia could have completely passed the entrance exam to military schools, but he dreamed of becoming a teacher so that he could later teach children in Ta Sin Thang village, one of the poorest and most difficult places in Tua Chua district in the past.

Therefore, from the initial thought of only supporting five students in university, this number has increased to 13, of which Mr. Tuan directly supports 10 students, three students thanks to the kindness of other benefactors. It is worth mentioning that the journey of helping students go to school of the teacher from the highlands does not stop at the 2025-2026 school year, but he plans to continue in the following school year, with about 10 more students.

The love of a "young father"

Born in a province with many difficulties like Dien Bien, teacher Nguyen Manh Tuan understands very well the difficulties of the people here, especially the students when he had the first seven years of teaching in Tua Chua, one of the poorest districts of Dien Bien in the past. At that time, all he could do was support the students with boxes of noodles, kilos of rice..., not many people knew about it and it did not have the same influence as it does now.

Therefore, for over 10 years, Mr. Tuan has tried to support and help orphans, preschool, primary, secondary and high school students. As for those who have passed the university entrance exam, starting this year, when they are preparing for their graduation exams, he has considered supporting those who have especially difficult circumstances but have the will to excel in their studies. Although he is still concerned about the cost, he simply thinks that if he cannot help them, they will have to drop out of school, affecting their future lives, while Dien Bien will lose a talented person who contributes to the development of the locality.

Thinking so, Mr. Tuan also started to do it. After identifying the cases that needed support, he talked to the students, whom he called "Team of young father Nguyen Tuan", to find out their thoughts and aspirations, and see how determined they were. Mr. Tuan said that with a stable teacher's salary, a little savings and his influence on social networks (Mr. Tuan was the only representative of Dien Bien to attend the national KOL - influential person - conference last August), he could help about five students in four years of university.

Even when the students graduate, he is willing to help them find suitable jobs. Roughly calculating, with 10 students from the 2025-2026 school year, Mr. Tuan will have to spend at least 960 million VND in four years, a huge amount for a teacher in a mountainous area. However, the teacher from Dien Bien confidently asserted that, "On Facebook , I have a large number of followers. If I cannot support, there are friends and others who will join hands," Mr. Tuan shared.

That's why right before the 2025-2026 school year, Mr. Tuan announced on his personal page: "2K8 students in Dien Bien province, any of you who are orphans or poor, when receiving the results, the reasons for passing the university entrance exam but cannot go to school... please try from now on... In 2026, the teacher will accept 10 more students to support for four years (if the teacher is not strong enough, his friends will help)".

Although the road ahead is still full of hardships, as long as you keep your will and faith, at the threshold of the lecture hall there will always be a teacher watching over you. From the heart of a person who sows knowledge in the highlands, the flame of love and the desire to study is being lit, so that each step of poor students in Dien Bien province into life will be more steady and no longer lonely.

Those shares will be the motivation for the new generation of students of Dien Bien to try and strive, so that they understand that they will not be alone on the path of learning. In fact, as Mr. Tuan shared, many people asked him why his "children" with difficult circumstances are so good at studying. He said that they have great determination when setting the goal of taking exams to enter teacher training schools to be exempted from tuition fees, so that they can return to teach the next generations. For example, Ca Van Long dreamed of becoming a preschool teacher. His father died when he was only 1 year old, and his mother later remarried and paid little attention to him. Long grew up with his grandparents who only worked in the fields, and his family was very poor. His dream of going to university was quite far away, even though he was talented in dancing, singing, and dancing and was good at social subjects. However, this student from Thanh Chan High School passed the Preschool Department, Tay Bac Pedagogical University with an admission score of 27.53 (the standard score was 27).

According to Mr. Tuan, another common point is that his “children” all have the will and determination to rise up. Their family circumstances are difficult, so they have to be more determined than others. Therefore, of the 10 children he has sponsored since the 2025-2026 school year, seven have achieved the highest graduation exam scores in seven high schools in Dien Bien.

Although the road ahead is still full of hardships, as long as you keep your will and faith, at the threshold of the lecture hall there will always be a teacher watching over you. From the heart of a person who sows knowledge in the highlands, the flame of love and the desire to study is being lit, so that each step of poor students in Dien Bien province into life will be more steady and no longer lonely.

STRONG

Source: https://nhandan.vn/diem-tua-noi-nguong-cua-giang-duong-post906292.html