Aspiring teacher and historic meeting with Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet

(Dan Tri) - Nearly 31 years ago, when the concept of "private university" was still strange in Vietnam, Mr. Le Cong Co devoted all his heart and soul to make his dream come true amid confusion and doubt.

From soldier to teacher who mortgaged his house to… open a school

Unlike other teachers, Mr. Le Cong Co, Chairman of the Duy Tan University Council, did not start his career on the podium. He was a student of pedagogy but soon became involved in revolutionary activities in the pre-1975 urban movement in the South.

According to Mr. Co, during his years of revolutionary activities in many areas, he himself had many "life and death" situations. He participated in a number of fierce battles such as the 1968 Mau Than General Offensive in Hue city.

Hero of Labor in the renovation period Le Cong Co (Photo: Hoai Son).

After liberation, he held many positions such as National Assembly Representative, Director of Quang Nam - Da Nang Tourism Company... But it seemed that those roles were still not enough to satisfy his desire, a dream of developing education.

In 1993, at the age of 52, he retired to fulfill his wish to work in education . For him, education is still a contribution to the country, but in another aspect, indirectly, long-term and more meaningful, it is to build quality human resources for the Fatherland.

He was determined to take the “anti-wind” path of establishing a private university at a time when the concept of private sector in Vietnam was not really open. That idea was considered a fantasy when his proposal was rejected in the first round.

To make his wish come true, he mortgaged his house, his only major asset at that time, and borrowed money from friends.

Duy Tan University in Da Nang city (Photo: A Nui).

Mr. Co recalled that he brought his house papers to a private bank in Da Nang to mortgage, hoping to borrow money to apply for permission to open a school. The bank director, who was his former student, cautiously said: "If you cannot get permission to open a school, where will your family live?" His former student's words made him think for a long time.

But the difficulty was not only financial but also the legal basis for non-public universities in Vietnam at that time was not yet complete. The Central region also did not have a single non-public university.

Nearly 50 trains to Hanoi and hundreds of sleepless nights

Mr. Le Cong Co spent two whole years (1993-1994), taking nearly 50 train trips from the Central region to Hanoi to lobby, convince the authorities and complete the procedures to open the school.

“I traveled so much by train that the security forces on the trains suspected me of smuggling. They questioned me quite harshly and I calmly replied, I went to apply to open a private university,” Mr. Co confided.

Mr. Le Cong Co did not start his career on the podium like many other teachers (Photo: Hoai Son).

During the days of traveling to Hanoi to submit documents and wait, he stayed in cheap hotels, even shabby motels at train stations and bus stations. Many times, he was so busy with transactions or editing documents and projects according to the requirements of the responsible agencies that he was so tired that he forgot to eat.

One difficulty after another, even when the first regulations on private universities were issued, he still encountered difficulties, even difficulty in naming the school.

Mr. Co recalled that when he asked to name the Central Private University, he was immediately rejected by the authorities, forcing him to change the word "central region" to another suitable phrase because "it is impossible to use the word central region to cover everything".

“I had to change the name to Duy Tan University, a name chosen by my wife, because it was suitable for innovation, modernity and longevity. On the other hand, the Duy Tan movement started in Quang Nam in 1906, then spread throughout the country, in this movement, Mr. Phan Chu Trinh also took “enlightening the people” as the main point,” said Mr. Co.

Meeting with the Prime Minister and the "historic nod"

To achieve success, Mr. Le Cong Co considered a step that could be considered risky... that is, finding a way to meet directly with the head of the Government at that time to express his wishes. It was not a simple matter, but thinking about it again, he shared: "At that time, there was no other way".

Then one day in October 1994, right at the Government Office, Mr. Le Cong Co "boldly" stood in the middle of the street, asking to meet Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet and luckily, he was accepted by the Prime Minister.

Mr. Nguyen Van Quang, Secretary of the Da Nang City Party Committee (right) presented the 60-year Party badge to Mr. Le Cong Co (Photo: A Nui).

After listening to his explanation, the head of the Government agreed. Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet wrote a few lines to Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Khanh, which Mr. Co reported: "Dear Mr. Khanh! I think that comrade Le Cong Co should be allowed to name the school Duy Tan, because this is a great movement initiated by revolutionary Phan Chu Trinh and is suitable for a university in Da Nang, Central Vietnam...".

After many efforts, on November 11, 1994, Mr. Co was moved to tears with joy at the Prime Minister's decision to allow the establishment of Duy Tan University, the first private university in the Central region, carrying with it the aspiration for innovation and renewal.

From the initial small capital, the school lacked all aspects of human resources and material resources, had to rent classrooms to teach.... He also visited 115 universities in 18 countries around the world to conduct research, making training quality the school's vital goal.

After nearly 30 years under the leadership of teacher Le Cong Co, in October 2024, the school was transformed into Duy Tan University, which was not only the first but also the largest non-public university in the Central region at that time.

As for Mr. Le Cong Co, in 2012, he was awarded the title of Excellent Teacher. In 2016, when he was 75 years old and 51 years old in the Party, teacher Le Cong Co received the title of Hero of Labor in the Renovation Period. He is the first person in Vietnam working in private higher education to be awarded this noble title.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/nha-giao-giau-khat-vong-va-cuoc-gap-lich-su-voi-thu-tuong-vo-van-kiet-20250805144204643.htm