(VOVworld) – People’s Teacher Lam Es in Soc Trang province is known as a dedicated teacher. His great contribution to education has made him the first teacher in the Mekong Delta to be recognized as People’s Teacher. VOV’s Le Hoa reports.

People's Teacher Lam Es (Photo: dantri.com.vn)

Lam Es was born in 1941 to a poor family in My Xuyen district, Soc Trang province. His father died when Lam Es was small. His mother sent him to Dai Tam pagoda to study the Buddha sutras. Lam Es proved a good student. In grade 5 he won a scholarship to study at the well-known Khai Tri school in Soc Trang. After graduating from that school, Lam Es returned to Dai Tam pagoda to teach poor children. He also taught himself English and French. Dai Tam pagoda was the first pagoda to offer free classes in Vietnamese, Khmer, English, and French. Learning and teaching what he has learned to the other is Lam Es’s passion and happiness. He said: “I learn, so I can teach effectively. I started teaching in 1971 and have taught Khmer, Vietnamese, English, and French”.

After the South was liberated in 1975, Lam Es had better conditions to continue studying. As a young teacher, he was assigned to work at the Department of Education in Hau Giang province. Lam Es continued to study while working. He wrote an instructional book on the Khmer language for young cadres. In 1992, Lam Es was appointed Deputy Head of the Department of Education and Training in Soc Trang province. His book was used in the curriculum of boarding schools for Khmer students in the South.

For his contribution, Lam Es was recognized as The People’s Teacher in 2002. In 2003, Lam Es retired, but continued to contribute to the education sector as President of Soc Trang province’s Study Promotion Society. Ly Ro Tha, Deputy Director of the Soc Trang Department of Education and Training, says the province has asked the State to give Lam Es the Ho Chi Minh award: “The province has nominated him for the Ho Chi Minh award. He has made a great contribution to the education sector, particularly his book on the Khmer language. As President of the Study Promotion Society, Lam Es has mobilized donors to support disadvantaged students”.

Lam Es has always borne in mind President Ho Chi Minh’s saying: “An illiterate nation is a weak nation”. President Ho Chi Minh believed in the importance of education, training, developing talent, and improving people’s morality and knowledge. Mr. Lam Es said: “I hope the Party and the people will join the effort to build a studious society. People should study to become better citizens”.