A teacher of Nguyen Van Cu primary school is ironing the donated clothes before giving them to the students.

The 275 students of Nguyen Van Cu primary school are returning to school after months of studying at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nguyen Trung Dung, the school's principal, says his students are mainly from the Xo Dang ethnic minority group.

He told VOV that the teachers have been disheartened to see many of the students arriving barefoot and without school supplies..

“We’ve launched the ‘Happy to go to school’ model among the teachers and called on benefactors to donate to the program basic items like clothes and shoes to make the children feel better prepared to come to school,” said Dung.

Initiated by the school’s administrators and teachers, the "Happy to go to school" model provides school uniforms to disadvantaged students and has improved their morale.

Y Tram and A Tien are two of the program’s beneficiaries. They sounded overjoyed to be trying on new outfits.    

Y Tram said the teachers gave her a white shirt and dark blue pants to wear to school that made her very happy.

A Tien expressed his happiness to have a new white shirt, adding that he’ll come to school regularly and study hard.

Nguyen Thi Thu Huong is the teacher in charge of the Young Pioneer Organization and the "Happy to go to school" model at Nguyen Van Cu primary school.

She said, “When we receive donated clothes, we wash them and make sure they’re not torn or defective. If there’s a missing button, the teachers sew one on. If a shirt is wrinkled, we iron it and hang it up like this. Students whose families are in difficult circumstances are given clothes to wear to school.”

All disadvantaged students of Nguyen Van Cu primary school have been provided with uniforms to go to school.

The school has also set up a book sharing system to help 100 students without textbooks get a book for their class. The "Library of Love" model encourages the children to read.

U Ly, Deputy Chairman of the Dak Pxi communal People's Committee, praised the teachers’ sense of responsibility and love for their students, demonstrated by sewing clothes for them, giving them haircuts, trimming their nails, and sometimes even bathing them.            

“The school has many students from disadvantaged families, so we have asked the teachers and their relatives to donate whatever they can. I think in a commune as poor as Dak Pxi, the teachers’ initiative is worthy of praise and should be expanded to other schools,” said Ly.

Thanks to the teachers’ love and care, Nguyen Van Cu primary school is keeping up its students’ attendance rate and encouraging the parents to pay more attention to their children’s studies.