(VOVworld) – For more than 20 years, teacher Nguyen Tra of Dong Da district, Hanoi, has taught disadvantaged children free of charge even after his retirement. Tra was commended by President Truong Tan Sang on the occasion of Vietnamese Teachers’ Day on November 20. Phuong Thoa reports:

82-year-old Tra considers teaching his responsibility in school and society so he decided to persuade poor children to attend his class with both material and spiritual support. In 1992 he decided to use the worship house of his family clan to open a free class for poor children. The class has neither chalk nor blackboard, just Tra and his students. Tra also teaches French, German, English, Italian, and Chinese-transcribed Vietnamese. Pham Thi Anh Tuyet has been studying Chinese-transcribed Vietnamese for 17 years: “I started learning Chinese-transcribed Vietnamese because not many people knew it at that time. I also learned French. Teacher Tra is like a living dictionary. He can answer all my questions about everything.”

Many of Tra’s students, be they newspaper vendor, bread vendor or construction worker, have eventually attended university and found good jobs. Tra’s free class has inspired many other teachers to get involved. Nguyen Van Dung, Tra’s granddaughter, said: “I’m happy to help others with my knowledge. I’m proud that the students have made definite progress. I’ll continue to help them.”

Tra used to teach 4 days a week but due to his failing he can now only teach on Sunday morning. He said helping his students become useful citizens is a gift to him and a motivation for continuing his work: “I hope everyone in society will love one another and that there will be some one to carry on my work.”