In the floating classroom (Photo: tuoitre.vn) Dong Nai (VNS/VNA) — In the middle of Tri AnReservoir of southern Dong Nai province, there is a floating classroom for poorchildren, taught by a 41-year-old monk from a nearby inland pagoda.
All of the students from poor households in Thanh Son commune’sfishing village were born and have grown up on boats. They learned how to catchfish at an early age but rarely touched books or pens to learn how to read andwrite.
“The life of the children is all about fish and fishing nets.Their families even cannot make ends meet, never mind thinking abouteducation. I think I have to lend them a helping land,” said monk Thich ChonNguyen.
“At first I taught five children on a floating house where afamily is living. Then more and more came to me. I bought a big floating houseto open the ‘school’,” he told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.
The special floating class now has more than 20 students agedsix to 15.
Every morning from Tuesday to Sunday, children come to theclass by boat.
Because the students are of different age groups and atvarious levels, Nguyen mixes the lessons up to keep everything engaged.
This means he rarely gets a break when in class, apart fromat the weekend when a female teacher from HCM City comes to help.
He said he teaches students based on their capacityand the most important thing is their ability to integrate and acquire theknowledge.
“I do not give them tests every week or every month butassess their ability every day… They learn really fast.”
As well as teaching, Nguyen cooks lunch for the childrenso that they can take a break at noon and continue to learn until 4pm.
All the money for books, meals and health check-ups isprovided by the monk and other donors.
Nguyen Van Nam, 15 years old, one of the oldest students,said he was one of the first students to attend the class.
“I feel happy and find the lessons easy to understand. If Idon’t understand anything, I ask the teacher and get the explanationimmediately. I want to learn how to read and write to be able to workat a factory when I grow up,” he said.
Nguyen's ultimate goal for his students is a solid educationand solid employment, so he also teaches them communications skills onceevery two months at the pagoda.
“For those who are good at communication, I try to inspirethat ability from them so that they can see themselves in a differentenvironment. Children who lack soft skills will be trained to become better dayby day,” he said.
“I try to find relevant training methods depending onchildren’s psychology and family background. I always keep in mind that I teachthem not only knowledge but also skills for their life now and in the future.”
“After learning here for a certain time, most of the childrenare good at basic reading, writing and math skills as well as soft skills. Thenthey can continue to learn or find jobs if they want.”
Due to the students' special circumstances, many can't get toschool on time or do their homework, so Nguyen works around those issues.
Many of the students take off their white shirts and gofishing with their parents right after the class is finished and parents evendo not allow children to go to school because they are busy with fishingto make ends meet, he said.
Teacher Nguyen has to give each family rice to persuadethe children to continue the class.
After learning about Nguyen’s class, many family members, notonly children but also parents, have attended to learn how to read and write.
Some adults have completed the course and are working on themainland.
Nguyen set the target of eradicating poverty for peopleliving on the boats in Thanh Son commune so they can leave the boats and comeashore to integrate into life on the land./.
All of the students from poor households in Thanh Son commune’sfishing village were born and have grown up on boats. They learned how to catchfish at an early age but rarely touched books or pens to learn how to read andwrite.
“The life of the children is all about fish and fishing nets.Their families even cannot make ends meet, never mind thinking abouteducation. I think I have to lend them a helping land,” said monk Thich ChonNguyen.
“At first I taught five children on a floating house where afamily is living. Then more and more came to me. I bought a big floating houseto open the ‘school’,” he told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.
The special floating class now has more than 20 students agedsix to 15.
Every morning from Tuesday to Sunday, children come to theclass by boat.
Because the students are of different age groups and atvarious levels, Nguyen mixes the lessons up to keep everything engaged.
This means he rarely gets a break when in class, apart fromat the weekend when a female teacher from HCM City comes to help.
He said he teaches students based on their capacityand the most important thing is their ability to integrate and acquire theknowledge.
“I do not give them tests every week or every month butassess their ability every day… They learn really fast.”
As well as teaching, Nguyen cooks lunch for the childrenso that they can take a break at noon and continue to learn until 4pm.
All the money for books, meals and health check-ups isprovided by the monk and other donors.
Nguyen Van Nam, 15 years old, one of the oldest students,said he was one of the first students to attend the class.
“I feel happy and find the lessons easy to understand. If Idon’t understand anything, I ask the teacher and get the explanationimmediately. I want to learn how to read and write to be able to workat a factory when I grow up,” he said.
Nguyen's ultimate goal for his students is a solid educationand solid employment, so he also teaches them communications skills onceevery two months at the pagoda.
“For those who are good at communication, I try to inspirethat ability from them so that they can see themselves in a differentenvironment. Children who lack soft skills will be trained to become better dayby day,” he said.
“I try to find relevant training methods depending onchildren’s psychology and family background. I always keep in mind that I teachthem not only knowledge but also skills for their life now and in the future.”
“After learning here for a certain time, most of the childrenare good at basic reading, writing and math skills as well as soft skills. Thenthey can continue to learn or find jobs if they want.”
Due to the students' special circumstances, many can't get toschool on time or do their homework, so Nguyen works around those issues.
Many of the students take off their white shirts and gofishing with their parents right after the class is finished and parents evendo not allow children to go to school because they are busy with fishingto make ends meet, he said.
Teacher Nguyen has to give each family rice to persuadethe children to continue the class.
After learning about Nguyen’s class, many family members, notonly children but also parents, have attended to learn how to read and write.
Some adults have completed the course and are working on themainland.
Nguyen set the target of eradicating poverty for peopleliving on the boats in Thanh Son commune so they can leave the boats and comeashore to integrate into life on the land./.
VNA
