Following Uncle Ho’s moral example with a heart of love for children, teacher Nguyen Thi Hoai Thu, 43, residing in Binh Thuan Ward, Hai Chau District, has been teaching disabled children for more than 20 years at the Tuong Lai (Future) Special School. She has taken many highly awarded initiatives and outstanding achievements.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai Thu teaches deaf students how to recognise animals using sign language. Photo: LE VAN THOM

Class D3 at the Future Special School has 9 primary school students aged 10-11. One day, Thu was observed teaching the children how to recognise animals such as rooster, hen and duck. Hanging the picture on the board, she used sign language to carefully explain each animal to the children. These movements are repeated repeatedly until the children clearly recognise them.

In 2001, from the Khai Tri Kindergarten, Son Tra District, Thu transferred to the Future Special School for work and was assigned to teach deaf children at the primary school level. She treats the disabled children with parental love. “I always try to find ways to help them feel happy and excited in the process of learning and living. At first, I played with the children, creating intimacy and trust among them, and then gradually taught and guided them each small skill”, said Thu.

The kind-hearted woman has many initiatives on making teaching aids, which are highly appreciated by the authorities. Outstandingly, the initiative ‘Geometric model to help deaf students at the Future Special

School do well in Mathematics ” won the C prize at the municipal level for the 2021 - 2022 school year.
Also, Thu won the third prize at the DIY Teaching Supplies Contest within the framework of the project ‘Building Capacity for Inclusion in Education’ in Quang Ngai Province and Da Nang.

On the annual summer vacation, Thu takes advantage of going to school to improve her professional skills. During her work, she actively applies new knowledge and scientific advances to the practice of teaching deaf students. All of Thu’s efforts have paid off as the classes she chairs every year always lead the whole school in terms of academic results.

Despite hard work, Thu has lingered on at the school with her beloved studentsn in the hope of bringing them any positive change and that is a reason she há continuously declined other well-paid job opportunities.

In particular, it is worth-praising that Thu has adopted two children with hearing disabilities, namely Ngo Ha Bao Thu and Tran Thanh Hai from the neighbouring province of Quang Nam and cared for them for many years. Bao Thu and Thanh Hai are currently studying in grade 6 at the Future Special School. The school’s principal Nguyen Duy Quy commented: “With her love for disabled children, teacher Thu has become the school's "leading bird" in teaching disabled children for many years”.

Constantly doing her best to share in her students’ lives, Thu is not only a teacher, but also a friend, mentor, parent. The female teacher believes that nothing is impossible with patience, faith and love, and she wants to instill the idea in her students. So, she always tells her students to give it their best shot to overcome any life challenges.

Reporting by LE VAN THOM - Translating by A.THU