The first female math professor in Vietnam told a story about paying tuition with 10kg of rice

Mr. Hoang Trong Lieu’s letter was sent in May, but the whole group held meetings up and down, and until August still had not come up with a solution.

I felt ashamed: “Mr. Lieu abroad is still struggling with his education in the country, can’t he do anything?”. So I took a risk, wrote a letter to the Ministry of Universities, asking to open a private university.

The Ministry of Universities did not respond.

Without giving up, I ventured alone to meet General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh and ask to open a university but did not ask for money from the State.

The General Secretary immediately agreed.

Through the Central Committee for Science and Education (now the Propaganda Department) and the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of University (now the Ministry of Education and Training) then invited me to speak, saying that it was OK to open the school.

Faced with difficulties, why is she so consistent with her “dream school”?

– I would like to open a private school for two reasons: to help lecturers reduce their suffering, to be able to live by their profession and to change the curricula, to bring the knowledge of studying abroad to other generations of students.

On that day, many pedagogical teachers had to work part-time, taking advantage of the morning to make donuts and sell them all the way from Cau Giay to Bach Mai Hospital, then to Van Dien. Hot oil from the donut pot poured into the chest, causing burns but also ignored. In the evening, they sell black bean tea. Carrying tea under the dim kerosene lamp, trying to make students not see the teacher’s face clearly.

We suffer both physically and mentally. If you go to teach but still have to worry regarding selling and making a living, how can you devote your energy to teaching? The reality makes me more passionate regarding a “dream school”, with a 100-year plan. This is a plan that must be implemented enough to become an international university, as well as the true university that I shape.

Prof. Hoang Xuan Sinh welcomed former General Secretary Do Muoi in 2009.

After many efforts, on December 15, 1988, I received a license agreeing to establish the Center of Thang Long Private University (now Thang Long University). The school’s first opening ceremony was held at the Temple of Literature – Quoc Tu Giam, with the presence of many important figures, including General Vo Nguyen Giap.

According to the strict regulations on that day, each person was only allowed to take the university exam once, if they failed, they might not retake the exam. At that time, my school was considered as a second door for those who unfortunately failed the public university entrance exam.

The first course of the school welcomed many good students, missing 1 or 2 points to enter famous universities at that time such as Bach Khoa, Pedagogy… They were taught how to “stand up right where they fell down, to let go. That leads to success.”

Up to now, following 35 years, when present at Thang Long University, we still hear many stages regarding her, such as the story of being both a principal and a janitor. How much conviction is there in these anecdotes, ma’am?

– That’s true. And even the story that my school took 10 pounds of rice for tuition.

At first, the school operated on my financial resources and donations from France. I have to weigh and measure a lot, if the tuition fee is too low, I can’t pay the fees, if it’s too high, no one will attend.

I calculated that, at that time, students who passed the A system in public schools were exempt from tuition fees, and the B system had to pay a tuition fee equivalent to 9 kilograms of rice. So, my school charges 10 kilograms of rice for tuition, so as not to make too much of a difference.

The question is, is the tuition fee equivalent to 10 pounds of rice too high for people?

I did another calculation. My family is given 13 kg of rice, only 8 kg of rice is eaten, and there is a voucher for 5 kg of rice, which can be exchanged at the black market to serve other living needs. So in a family, every two people have an excess of 10 pounds of rice each month, selling it is enough to pay school fees for their children.

From the tuition fee, I gathered the leading professors in the field to realize my dream, paying them 5 USD / hour, compared to other schools at that time, which was high.

However, following 3 years, my friends in France no longer have the strength to support the school, I fell into a dead end, a “difficult problem” that might not be solved immediately. That period was too difficult.

How did she make the biggest dream of her life survive in those difficult times?

– I mobilized all my financial resources, and at the same time went to France to call for donations. Those were the days when I wandered the streets of Paris, hungry and tired, listless. But I do not allow myself to stop, because “if schools close, where will students go?”. I have to be responsible, but my parents also hold me accountable.

After solving the financial problem, the school and I continued to face an equally difficult problem, which was the location. The school has to rent and move dozens of places, “countable”, every 6 months to a year, they have to move.

The small, shackled school in the alleys and alleys that two motorbike riders might not fit, was far from my expectations of the “dream school”.

Some days, not being able to pay for the janitor, I go to school at 6 am to scan the classroom. When the students saw the principal in the form of a janitor, they mightn’t help but laugh. Not scolding, I just sternly said: “You hold brooms, sweep with me”.

In early 1992, Ms. Bernadette Chodron Courcel, wife of French President J.Chirac, visited the school. In the delegation to pick up my wife at the airport, I wore a pair of sandals given to me by my sister but soon broke the front strap. With a slipper in one hand, I walked with a limp, but luckily found a pair of makeshift slippers.

The day before Ms. Bernadette Chodron Courcel came to school, Vietnamese and French security officers conducted minesweeping, mobilized a large security team and escorted them.

To be honest, I was afraid of humiliation in front of the French president’s wife because of the poor state of the classroom. Mosquitoes fly everywhere, the toilet is just an area surrounded by a brick fence, shared by both men and women.

When I stood on the podium to give a welcome speech, I was just afraid that if the lady asked to go to the bathroom… I didn’t know how to respond. Fortunately, the meeting went well, I also breathed a sigh of relief.

Now that I think regarding it, I don’t understand why I was so confident in opening a school in the past. I can live, probably because of confidence.

Two years following the first batch of students graduated, the Ministry of Education and Training had a provisional status of a private university and I was “untied”, continuing to stick to the 100-year plan.

In your whole life as an educator, what are you most proud of? What is your wish for Vietnamese education?

– At the age of 90, having spent my whole life as an educator, the most proud thing is that in 42 years (1960 – 2002) working at the University of Pedagogy, I have built a professional program for each lecturer. , so that each person has their own personal development path.

Now, as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Thang Long University, I sometimes go to the school, attend the briefings.

Here, I still tell everyone, that I have never stopped worrying regarding Vietnamese education. Because I still worry, I still worry, still try, still have a desire: “One day, Vietnamese students will enjoy the best education and fully develop their talents”.

Content: Minh Nhan

Photo: Minh Duc, Character provided

Designer: Do Diep

08/03/2023