Kindergarten and primary school children walk to school in On Village, Muong Lat District, Thanh Hoa Province
The only kindergarten and primary school in On Village in Muong Lat District lies next to each other on a mountain which is some seven kilometres from the furthest houses in the village. Local children have to walk from 2-7 kilometres to get to the school every day.
Teacher Vi Thi Bot said that she was shocked on her first days at the kindergarten to see children aged between 3-5 walking nearly six kilometres on mountainous and forest roads to school every day.
"The children usually have to leave home very early, at around five in the morning," the teacher said. "Besides books, they have to carry their lunches with them to school."
Five-year-old Giang A Mua lives five kilometres from the school. He said that he and his three-year-old brother had to leave home very early in the morning.
"Walking is tiring but we still like going to school," he said.
According to the teacher, due to the difficult road, many of her students won't go to school on rainy days.
"The roads are dangerous on rainy days," she said. "My class has 16 students but you can see we only have three coming on a rainy day like today."
Teacher Vi Van Quan at the nearby primary school said that many of his students usually look tired and sleepy during class.
"I know that they have to get up early and walk a long, difficult road," he said. "Some even have to carry their younger brothers or sisters on their backs to the kindergarten before coming to class. A few are brought by their parents who are mostly poor people doing farming work".
Teacher Bot expresses hope that the school will be upgraded to have boarding facilities so that her students can stay at the school to make their studying less difficult.
On Village has 112 households of the Mong ethnic group. They are known as the poorest community in Thanh Hoa Province. Most of the local people live on growing rice and corn on the surrounding mountains.
A man drives on a muddy road in On Village
Party Secretary of On Village, Giang A Chong was the first person in the area to have graduated from high school. He has been determined to help local children go to school and prevent child marriages which used to be common here.
"I know that only studying can help us improve our production and fight against poverty and backward traditions," he said. "I'm happy that we have gradually gained success in persuading local parents to allow their children to school."
The official shared that from these kindergarten and primary school, many students have had opportunities to further study and acquired higher education in other places. And some have returned to help develop the village.
