Hope endures at two Dien Bien remote schools with little but determination

Ta Lo San school site

Ta Lo San school site lies more than 40km from the centre of Sin Thau Commune in the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien, reached by winding dirt roads with steep cliffs on one side and deep ravines on the other. During rain, the road becomes muddy and impassable for motorbikes.

The Ta Lo San site, part of Sen Thuong Kindergarten, serves 30 preschool and primary pupils. Children live scattered across the village, with some walking several kilometres along mountain paths to attend class.

Built in 2016, the classrooms are now badly degraded. Corrugated metal roofs are rusted and perforated, while walls are damp and mould covered from years of rain seepage.

“In winter, it is bitterly cold. Many children do not have warm clothes and come to class barefoot,” said teacher Toan Quang Nu.

Teachers also face severe shortages. A corner of the classroom is used as a makeshift kitchen to prepare lunches for pupils.

“We only hope for sturdier classrooms and a separate kitchen area for cooking meals for the children,” Nu said.

About 10km from the commune centre, conditions at Ta Khoa Pa school are similarly harsh. The site has just one preschool classroom for children aged three to five and no staff room. On teaching days, teachers sleep inside the damp, musty classroom.

Constructed in 2012, the building has since deteriorated, with holes in the roof, broken doors and rainwater streaming across slippery floors during downpours.

 Inside the damp, musty classroom at Ta Khoa Pa School site

“When it rains, we place buckets and basins everywhere to catch the leaks. If the rain is too heavy, lessons have to stop,” said teacher Trinh Thi Hoa.

The school relies on water from a mountain stream. In the rainy season it is murky, while in the dry months it runs low and must be carefully rationed.

A temporary kitchen made of scrap wood and bamboo stands in the yard for meal preparation. There is no national power grid, with a small generator providing only a few hours of light each day.

The kitchen made of scrap wood and bamboo at Ta Khoa Pa School site

“Without grid electricity, applying information technology in teaching is very limited. Mobile signal is unstable and disappears whenever it rains,” Hoa said.

Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Head of Sen Thuong Kindergarten, said both sites lack electricity, clean water and stable phone signal, making daily life and learning extremely difficult. The facilities are badly run down and in urgent need of repair.

A teacher and her students at Ta Khoa Pa School site

With funding support, the school hopes to replace roofs, repair walls and doors, build kitchens and staff accommodation, pave schoolyards and improve access paths.

Speaking to Dantri/Dtinews, Mua A Vang, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front committee in Dien Bien, said the province aims to eliminate temporary classrooms between 2025 and 2030, but many border and remote areas still face severe hardship.

“We hope to continue receiving support from Dantri and benefactors to help repair and rebuild difficult school sites, starting with Ta Lo San and Ta Khoa Pa,” he said.

Do Thuy Giang, Vice Chairman of Sin Thau Commune, added: “We sincerely hope readers and donors will join hands to help make these two school sites safer and more solid.”