New school year, re-reading Uncle Ho's letter

During his lifetime, President Ho Chi Minh was always interested in the cause of educating people. Beloved Uncle Ho sent letters to the Education and Training sector many times. However, there are two letters that left a deep impression not only on those working in education but also on the whole society. Welcoming the new school year 2025 - 2026, re-reading Uncle Ho's letters makes many things clearer...

Students of Trung Vuong High School ( Hanoi ) came to celebrate President Ho Chi Minh's birthday (May 19, 1956). Photo: VNA

1. In the “Letter to Students” on the first school opening day of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, September 1945, Uncle Ho called the students “em” and addressed himself as “toi”. At the beginning of the letter, Uncle Ho clearly stated: “From this moment on, you will begin to receive a completely Vietnamese education ”.

He explained: “In the past, your fathers, and just last year you too, had to accept a slave education, which meant that it only trained people to be lackeys and servants for a group of French colonialists. Today, you are luckier than your fathers because you are receiving an education from an independent country, an education that will train you to become useful citizens for Vietnam, an education that will fully develop your inherent abilities.”

Clearly, here Uncle Ho emphasized the independence and autonomy of Vietnamese education, completely independent of the outside (of course, selectively absorbing the quintessence and progressive elements of advanced education systems in the world ). After 80 years, this is even more relevant, especially in the context of Vietnam's increasingly deeper integration into the region and the world. The independence and autonomy of Vietnamese education has been and is the most important and fundamental factor to preserve, conserve and promote the national cultural identity.

Besides, according to Uncle Ho, the Vietnamese education system has a very clear purpose, which is to train useful citizens for Vietnam and provide comprehensive education, fully developing the existing abilities of students. According to Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Xuan Nhi, former Deputy Minister of Education and Training, “the letter laid the foundation for a new humane and humane education… Uncle Ho's letter to students can be considered a manifesto on the new Vietnamese education system”.

Uncle Ho's thoughts 80 years ago were the guiding principle for our Party to issue Resolution No. 29-NQ/TW on fundamental and comprehensive innovation of education and training, meeting the requirements of industrialization and modernization in the context of a socialist-oriented market economy and international integration, with strategic orientations: "Developing education and training is to improve people's knowledge, train human resources, and foster talents. Strongly shifting the educational process from mainly equipping knowledge to comprehensively developing learners' capacity and qualities. Learning goes hand in hand with practice; theory is linked to practice; school education is combined with family education and social education"; "Educating Vietnamese people to develop comprehensively and make the best use of each individual's potential and creativity; loving family, loving the Fatherland, loving compatriots; living well and working effectively".

Notably, implemented from the 2020-2021 school year, the 2018 General Education Program is a major reform, shifting the focus from "teaching words" to "teaching people", helping students develop comprehensively in terms of qualities and abilities; enhancing life skills education, experiential activities, and career guidance; expanding elective subjects according to students' interests and career orientation; innovating testing and assessment towards the progress of learners.

Uncle Ho's letter to students on the first school opening day of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Photo archive.

2. One year before he passed away, while the resistance war against the US to save the country entered a very fierce and fierce phase and Uncle Ho's health was getting weaker and weaker, he still paid special attention to the education sector and teachers. On October 15, 1968, on the occasion of the new school year, Uncle Ho wrote "Letter to cadres, teachers, workers, employees, students and pupils at the beginning of the new school year". This was the longest letter and also the last letter Uncle Ho sent to the education sector.

He happily praised the entire education sector: “In the context of the whole country at war, our education career still developed faster and stronger than ever… Schools have made great efforts in competing to teach well and study well, ensuring the safety of teachers and students, making material and spiritual life increasingly progressive. Although the American invaders were madly and fiercely attacking the North, they not only suffered a miserable defeat on the political and military fronts, but we also defeated them on the education and training fronts. We were able to do so thanks to our Party’s correct policies, our army and people being very heroic; and also because the teachers, uncles, and children in the schools together overcame many difficulties to successfully complete their tasks.”

In particular, the letter expressed the beloved leader's profound thoughts and philosophy on education and training: Education is the cause of the masses. He advised, "It is necessary to fully promote socialist democracy, build good relationships, and closely unite teachers, teachers and students, students, cadres at all levels, schools and people to successfully complete that task." At the same time, "All sectors, all levels of the Party and local authorities must pay more attention to this cause, must take care of schools in all aspects, and push our education cause to new steps of development."

Nearly 6 decades have passed, Uncle Ho's viewpoint "Education is the cause of the masses" has been seriously and effectively implemented by our Party and people. The whole country has completed universal preschool education for 5-year-old children; firmly maintained and gradually improved the quality of universal primary and secondary education. General education has shifted positively from mainly equipping knowledge to comprehensively developing learners' qualities and capacities; the quality of mass and spearhead general education has been increasingly improved. Continuing education has developed diversely in content and form; emulation movements to study, encourage learning, encourage talents, and build a learning society have been implemented with attention.

Vocational education has grown strongly in quantity and focused on improving quality step by step to better meet the needs of the labor market. Facilities and teaching equipment have been improved, initially meeting the requirements of educational and training innovation.

This is a very important premise for the whole country to continue to improve the national education system in an open, flexible, and interconnected direction, promoting a learning society and lifelong learning; ensuring fairness in access to quality education for learners; and mobilizing investment resources to strengthen facilities and improve the quality of education.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/nam-hoc-moi-doc-lai-thu-bac-ho-3301074.html