Although constantly faced with terrible pain such as the loss of her daughter and a struggle with cancer, she is still calm and ready to face any challenge in life, seeing these challenges as an integral part of life, to steer a school in the heart of Hanoi to become a prestigious brand of the education sector.
Leaving aside the difficult times and the days of her youth during the war, the story of Meritorious Teacher Nguyen Thi Hien began in 1997, when Doan Thi Diem School was established. Starting from a Russian language teacher, not being trained with management of primary school education, she began by self-studying from books, and from the practice of famous schools in Cau Giay district. At that time, the concept “private school” was new and people were skeptical. Overcoming this, under the leadership of Ms Hien, Doan Thi Diem Primary School, which was established with numerous difficulties, has now become one of the largest primary schools in the capital with hundreds of classes, more than 3,000 students and nearly 400 staff and teachers. Doan Thi Diem is in the top choice of many parents when choosing school for their children.
While successful at her teaching career and business, she faced many difficulties in her private life. In the process of building the school, in 2006 she was diagnosed with a herniated disc and had to be hospitalized for months, after less than a year, she broke her leg in an accident and had to replace the entire right femoral neck, not long after that, her beautiful daughter as well as her colleague died suddenly. “It never rains but it pours” - after her daughter's death, she learned that she had cancer. When she was treated by chemotherapy in the 3rd time, her hair fell out. So far, it has been 5 years since she started to live with this cruel disease. The pains are too big but they cannot defeat her. Every time the storm passes, people see her become more brave and working in a more passionate way.
Ms Nguyen Thi Hien’s working style comprises enthusiasm, creativity, dynamism of the woman engaged in both education and business. She does not hesitate to affirm that she is a teacher doing business, and succeeds in business. Doan Thi Diem model is like a school-business. As the leader, Ms Hien is currently famous as a successful CEO in the education sector. She always conceived: "When doing business in the education sector, the mind must be bright; we should not chase profits while ignoring our duties. Because the products created are human beings, if people doing business in the education sector don’t have good minds, a generation will be spoiled."
With enthusiasm and intelligence, she and her team of teachers have built a comprehensive model of education for students. In Doan Thi Diem School, students not only master knowledge but also cultivate personality, morality, autonomy, confidence and suitable to be the owners of the country's future. Therefore, besides training, many charity and humanitarian programes are organised successfully in Doan Thi Diem with the enthusiastic participation of parents and pupils. There are many programmes which have become the traditional activities of the school such as "Love moon", "Heart to you", "Doan Thi Diem Scholarship Fund" for the difficult cases, etc. In addition to donations to support poor students, these activities also help students sympathetic to unlucky peers, form their personality and raise awareness of self-discipline.
Establishing Doan Thi Diem school in an extremely difficult time, with experience and previous success, she is always willing to help the other private schools across the country to contribute to the socialisation of education. In 2010, Ms Hien is the sole representative of the non-public sector honoured with the title "Meritorious Teacher" awarded by the State and for many years being a good manager in the education sector. In 2012 she was honoured to be awarded the 3rdGrade Labour Order. At the age of 69, her passion for teaching career is still a burning fire in her heart. Meritorious Teacher Nguyen Thi Hien, Chairwoman and Principal of Doan Thi Diem school, still lives her best every day, devoting to passion in the chosen path and for the education of the country.
Nguyen Bach
Vietnamese
