Over the past 10 years, Buddhist monk Thich Thanh Luong from the Bo De Pagoda in Lien Chieu District's Hoa Minh Ward has been providing free English courses for poor school pupils in Da Nang.

In 2006, whilst doing charitable activities in Thanh Khe District, Thich Thanh Luong met a poor pupil from the district’s Do Dang Tuyen Senior High School who could not afford extra English classes yet English was the most difficult school subject for him. 

The monk, who was at that time a first-year student in the English Department of Da Nang's College of Foreign Languages, decided to rent a small house near the Bo De Pagoda to provide free English courses for poor pupils, including the one he had met from Do Dang Tuyen Senior High School.  His great efforts helped his pupils to improve their English language skills step-by-step.

Buddhist monk Thich Thanh Luong and some of his pupils

Over the years, the monk’s English classes have been attended by an increasing number of poor students with, at peak times, up to 100 per day.  In addition to English, the kind-hearted teacher has also asked his friends to give free courses in Mathematics and Chemistry to his needy pupils.  As a result, each year around 25 of his pupils successfully pass the college and university entrance examinations.

In 2009 Thich Thanh Luong graduated from his university, and in 2011 he received a scholarship for a Master's degree in English language in Australia.

During his studies in Australia, he took on various part-time jobs to earn hundreds of millions of VND.  After finishing his course, he returned to Da Nang and used his savings to build a 3-storey training centre at the end of Bau Ngan 2 in Lien Chieu District’s Hoa Minh Ward.  The venue comprises spacious rooms with lighting, air conditioning and sets of tables and chairs.

Currently, his centre offers free English courses for poor school pupils from many districts across the city, but they come mainly from Lien Chieu and Thanh Khe districts.  In addition to teaching English, the dedicated teacher always teaches his pupils to be kind to all people and be willing to help those in difficult circumstances.