On a Monday morning, the cultural house of Tho Trung village opened early to welcome students with disabilities to the free class organized by the retired teachers' association in Tinh Tho commune in Son Tinh district in Quang Ngai province). The class has been held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for 12 years.

Tran Dinh Vuong, 70, chair of the association, with 40 years of experience as a teacher, opened the 'class of love’.

Vuong's initiative was supported by his colleagues and 20 retired teachers registered to take turns teaching the class. 

At first, there were only 16 students, aged 7-22. To organize the class, teachers had to meet every family to persuade parents to let their children go to the class.

"Each student has a distinct disability. Some are mute or deaf, others have mental impairments. So, it requires flexibility and skills to teach them in person, with tailored curricula. Some learn to speak, some learn to sing, others learn letters, and some come to play with friends,” Vuong said. 

“The common effort that all of us make is helping them integrate well into the community,” he added.

Teacher Nguyen Thi Bich, 57, said the students, regardless of age, behave like children and can be easily agitated. They need many months and repeated explanations to remember some letters or numerals. Therefore, teachers must be extremely patient, understanding, and overlook students’ unruly or angry behaviors.

"Before coming to class, I buy candy as a reward for the students. We try to be close to students and encourage them to study, not to require high achievements from them,” she said. 

"Our joys come when we see the progress made by students, when students can remember letters and write their names, when they know that they need to greet elders,” Bich added.

Nine students have ‘graduated’ from the class in the last 12 years, and have integrated into society. Some of them work as factory workers, and others have married.

There are still seven students in the class. The youngest student is 13 years old, while the eldest is 26.

Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy, 57, who was seen sitting on the corridor to watch her daughter studying, told VietNamNet that her daughter suffered from Down syndrome and she has become better thanks to the teaching. She is grateful to the teachers who not only spend time teaching students, but also spend money to buy books and pens for them.

Ha Nam