Movement to eradicate ill-fated war 70 years ago

To learn the word, people bring oil lamps or burn torches to go to school at night, students are babies, old-haired, bearded old women or women who just spell and shyly breastfeed.

Movement to eliminate ignorance in the new era

After September 2, 1945, the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was born facing many difficulties, famine, ignorance and foreign invasion. In particular, up to 95% of the population is illiterate. For every 100 people, 3 children from 8 to 16 years old go to school and 2 adults are literate, and 95 cannot go to school. If going deep into villages, villages are far from urban areas and especially in mountainous areas, there is no one literate.

One day after gaining independence, in the first meeting of the Government Council of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, President Ho Chi Minh advocated opening a campaign against illiteracy, destroying ignorance, considering it second urgent task in 6 urgent tasks of the government. President Ho said "An ignorant nation is a weak nation" and emphasizes "The ignorance is foolish, the foolish is the coward. Therefore, not to be foolish, not to be cowardly, so paying illiteracy is one of the things urgent and important of new democratic countries ".

People stand right at the wharf, the river wharf to learn the word. (Documentary photo.)

On September 8, 1945, the Department of Popular Education was born, located in the Ministry of National Education. On the same day, Ordinance No. 19 - SL term in 6 months, every village and town must have at least one popular class and Ordinance No. 20 - The compulsory national language learning language is issued.

One day after its founding, in order to determine how the organization and operation for the movement, Nha Binh Dan continued to organize training courses in Hanoi and other regions. The first class for staff in charge of provinces named "Ho Chi Minh City" opened in Hanoi, attended by President Ho Chi Minh and leaders of ministries. The first people to attend this class are the source of the foundation for the literacy movement. Particularly in the South, right after the establishment of the People 's Seminary for half a month, the French colonists returned to invade. Although Nha Trang has sent a number of officials to build a base, but because of difficult circumstances, the movement here has not been maintained regularly and strongly like in the North and Central.

The popular education has sparked a passion for literacy from North to South, from plain to mountainous areas. Before that, the Association's activities to spread the national language had left many experienced movements as well as intellectual forces volunteering to teach the people. Workers study in the workshop, war invalids at the nursing home, fishermen learn right on the fishing boat, the farmers learn on the field, the temple yard, the root, the water station, the young children learn on the back of the buffalo. People work during the day, light oil lamps at night, burn torches to class.

Ordinary academic teachers are of all gender, age, no salary, literacy is involved. They teach, build schools, create classes, search for learning materials, encourage students. There is a class with teachers, but there are classes that assign people in the house to teach each other, the husband teaches the wife, the child teaches the mother and the siblings teach me. The way of teaching is also adapted to the intellectual situation at the time, it is to read out into words, letters, rhymes that are made up of verses of verses, compared to make it easier to remember: I, sheets (i, t ) same hook both short / long with dots, long sheets have horizontal. O round like chicken egg / O then wear a hat, At the time of adding beard.

Inadequate learning tools, learners use bamboo, doors to make tables; the writing board is a wall, a door, an antic board; chalk is young bricks, clay, charcoal; dried banana leaves, moons changing paper; And the ink uses any flowers, plants can make colors.

Mr. Nguyen Thin Xuan, former officer of the Department of Affordable Education.(Photo: HP)

"The table is not available, people still turn the basket upside down as a study table. The notebook is not available, the people spread the sand to the yard, hold the writing stick, write and then delete again to write another word" , Mr. Nguyen Thin Xuan ( 90 years old, Chairman of the Destructive Soldier Club, the officials of Nha Binh People's Service recounted the anniversary of the day when the entire population went to school.

Mr. Xuan remembers a happy memory that many people still listen to each other. In order to check the literacy of people going to school, the inspection committee usually stands at the village's head, ferry station, where many people pass by. Anyone who reads the word is allowed to pass through. Once, Minister of Education Nguyen Van Huyen went to see the situation of popular classes. The people of the inspection team did not know the minister, stubbornly kept him asking if the word was or not. Need a case to remind the young man, but Minister Huan only smiled to stop, answered smoothly before going through.

At every stage of the history of the country, Academic people have different tasks. After the independence day, Binh Duong Education Department is responsible for building and developing the movement and teaching people to be literate. In just one year, from August 1945 to August 1946, popular studies taught more than 2.5 million literate people, developed nearly 96,000 teachers, opened nearly 75,000 classes.

In December 1946, the whole country entered the resistance against the French . The Government moved to Viet Bac. According to the policy of resistance, the study population must also set a new work plan, modified to suit the situation. Classes followed the compatriots to evacuate the resistance, according to the civilian corps. The resistance classes have naturally entered To Huu's poem Remember how the class i sheets / Late at night the festival hours . (Viet Bac).

In temporary occupied areas, classes are organized differently than free zones, usually private classes, without tables, chairs, chalks. The teachers and students sat around the counter or projector, each with a bamboo tube to hold the book. Outside guarded by guards, whenever the alarm came, the books rolled into bamboo pipes hidden outside the bamboo bank and the teachers and students turned to do as in a small handicraft workshop. Just like that, Affordable learning can still be maintained in many areas occupied by the enemy, the strongest ones are Hung Yen, Hai Phong, Nam Dinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue .

President Ho Chi Minh inspected the Affordability work in Thai Binh and Ha Tinh.(Documentary photo.)

As the birth of a popular school, President Ho Chi Minh always follows every step of the movement. People always encourage and visit teachers, old people, hard-working babies to class. In the education career in general, Ho President always cares about the final effectiveness of teaching and learning so that he can summarize the phrase "For the benefit of 10 years to plant trees. For the sake of hundreds of years of growing people".

According to Nguyen Thin Xuan, Binh Duong's education has left a lot of valuable lessons for the country's education . The movement has developed widely and has a long-lasting life during the resistance period because of "people know, people discuss, people do and people inspect" . Budget learning is led by the Government, but the organization and operation must rely on the strength of the people to develop.

" Affordable learning not only eradicates illiteracy among the people, but also helps people to be aware of the rights and obligations of citizens of a dynamic country, that is, in addition to being free, they must be educated and open With knowledge, the movement to contribute great achievements, is the basis for raising the people's intellectual standards, along with many other factors that make the power to bring the people through two resistance wars, "said Mr. Xuan.