The Southern student-teacher relationship

The Southern Student Schools in the North are a very special educational model. Although they only existed for 21 years (1954-1975), these schools trained many “red seeds,” nurturing thousands of talents for the Southern Revolution and the country. The couple of teachers Dinh Van Sa and Nguyen Thi Ngoc (currently living in Zone 13, Hung Son Town, Lam Thao District) are teachers who have devoted themselves to caring for and teaching many Southern students at the Southern Student School No. 1 Dong Trieu (Dong Trieu Town, Quang Ninh Province). Although the school has ended its half-century mission, the teacher-student relationship is still as close and attached as in the beginning.

The couple of Meritorious Teachers Dinh Van Sa and Nguyen Thi Ngoc.

In 1954, after the Geneva Agreement was signed, along with the regrouping of soldiers and cadres from the South to the North, President Ho Chi Minh, the Party, and the Government advocated sending students who were children of cadres, soldiers, and compatriots from the South to the North to study with the steadfast goal of building a successor team for the Southern Revolution as well as the national Revolution later on. The system of schools for Southern students in the North was born in such a context. Long after, historical researchers still consider this a great policy of extremely important significance, demonstrating the far-sighted vision of President Ho Chi Minh and the Party Central Committee. Dong Trieu Southern Student School No. 1 (located in An Sinh and Tan Viet communes, Dong Trieu town, Quang Ninh province) opened its first course in 1958. Meritorious teacher Dinh Van Sa is nearly 80 years old this year, but in his memory, the years of being “both a teacher and a friend” and “sharing cassava with each other” with the students of the South are unforgettable memories.

Dong Trieu Southern Student School No. 1 Band (Photo: Ho Chi Minh Museum)

Teacher Dinh Van Sa was born in 1948 in Hung Son town, Lam Thao district. In 1968, after graduating from Ha Bac 10+2 Pedagogical School (the predecessor of the Literature Department, Hanoi Pedagogical University now), he was assigned by the Ministry of Education (now the Ministry of Education and Training) to teach literature at Dong Trieu Southern Student School No. 1.

Teacher Dinh Van Sa recalled, “My students at that time were of many ages. I taught grade 7, but some of my students were 19 or 20 years old. Some were guerrillas fighting the Americans in the South, walking for 6 months to the North to study. I had just graduated from school and was very young, so I was both a teacher and a friend. Teachers and students shared every piece of warm clothing, every meal, and every bowl of porridge, so we were close and attached.”

In 21 years (1954-1975), 21,000 students from the South followed army vehicles, ships, and planes and walked across the Truong Son mountain range to the North to study. The devoted teachings, love, and care of teachers and local people at that time were forever remembered by the students. Now, once a year, teachers and students have the opportunity to reunite on anniversary days, together recalling memories of that distant but warm past.

Southern students cross the Se San River (Gia Lai, Kon Tum) on their way to the North. (Photo: Ho Chi Minh Museum)

The late Prime Minister Pham Van Dong once said, “Southern schools in the North are special nurseries, nurturing the most precious seeds that Uncle Ho, the Party, the State, and the People of the North have given to the South since the difficult days.” The historic migration of 32,000 Southern students was a way to protect the future buds of the country during those extremely fierce days of war.

Teacher Dinh Van Sa married teacher Nguyen Thi Ngoc, a math teacher at the same school. Ms. Ngoc is now nearly 80 years old and still remembers clearly the days of going to the forest with students to collect firewood and chop bamboo to roof houses. When giving birth to her first daughter in 1973, teacher Dinh Van Sa was assigned to work at the Southern Students School in Guilin (China). “During the days when my husband was away and my daughter was just born, the students after school often helped me do the laundry, cook, and take care of the baby. The affection was warm and deep, like family.”

Ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the project to pay tribute to the second hometown of Dong Trieu City, Quang Ninh Province, of Southern students who had studied here

In the first period of 1954-1968, there were 28 Southern student schools established with the following types: kindergarten, primary, secondary, high school, and cultural supplementary education. The schools were mainly concentrated in the provinces of Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, and Thai Binh. After 1955, the Party, Government, and Uncle Ho brought the schools to concentrate mainly in the provinces and cities: Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Hanoi, and Ha Nam. During this period, a group of Southern students were also sent to study in China and the German Democratic Republic. A small group studied with local students (Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Hanoi).

In 1975, when the country was unified, teacher Dinh Van Sa and his delegation brought the southern students back to give to many families in Quang Ngai province. He and his wife, teacher Nguyen Thi Ngoc, returned to work in their hometown of Phu Tho, continuing to contribute to the cause of educating people. In 1994, he was awarded the title of Excellent Teacher by the state.

The stone stele marks the Southern Student School No. 1 Dong Trieu in the grounds of An Sinh Temple (Dong Trieu City, Quang Ninh Province). (Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper)

Although 50 years have passed, teacher Sa and teacher Ngoc still follow and ask about the health and careers of their southern students. When they have grown up, many have become leaders of southern provinces and cities, engineers, doctors... but they always turn to express gratitude to the land and people who sheltered them during the years of war. On each anniversary, many successful Southern students have returned to their second hometown, Dong Trieu, to contribute to social security work, taking care of the lives of policy beneficiaries and disadvantaged households in the locality.

In the grounds of An Sinh Temple (formerly Southern Student School No. 1, Dong Trieu town), a stone stele reads, "Here, Southern students were nurtured, trained, and matured by the Party, the State, Uncle Ho, and the Northern people." The stele not only records the gratitude of Southern students but is also a timeless testament to the dedication and devotion of teachers like Mr. Sa and Ms. Ngoc, who nurtured and trained “red seeds,” talents for the South and the country.

Thuy Trang