About the community

In June 2007, VES opened its first school in the Cát Nê commune, Thái Nguyên province in northern Vietnam. The school it replaced was in extremely poor condition with a leaking roof and crumbling walls. Students said it was very hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter.

Cát Nê is one of 28 communes in the rural mountainous district of Đại Từ in the southwest of Thai Nguyen province.  When the primary school opened in 2007, this was a very poor area. Most local people farmed rice or tea. In 2025, economic conditions have improved remarkably.  The average per capita income has increased by more than five times. Local infrastructure has been greatly improved.

Helping the children succeed

Shortly after the opening of Cát Nê primary school, many students wrote thank you letters to VES. Here is an example of one letter that describes the impact the school had.  “My name is Nguyen Thi Binh Minh, grade 2A. The whole Cát Nê school and all my friends are very happy to be in the new and beautiful school this year. On the grand opening day as I entered the new classroom, I got so touched the tears kept coming out from my eyes. Our village is still very poor. Last year we were in the old and ruined school. When it was hot and sunny, we could not see anything because of the sunlight glaring everywhere. And when it was raining, it was dangerous to be in the classroom.”

Hundreds of students have studied in the Cát Nê primary school classrooms in the almost two decades since it was built.

Funding & construction

The Cát Nê primary school is a ten room, fully-equipped facility made up of two wings, each with five classrooms. Each room has a complete set of children’s desks, a ceiling fan, lights and a water cooler. The buildings were solidly built and are designed to be cool in the summer heat and warm in the wet and often cold winter. At the time, this was the first new building in Cát Nê in decades.

At the time the VES Cát Nê primary school opened, there were 350 students. As of 2025, the school has 700 students. All the VES classrooms are in good condition and very much in use. There is now an additional two story classroom block behind the VES classrooms and there is another block of administrative offices. The school teaches Art, Music and English along with the regular classes. Dance classes are held in part of the VES Multi-Purpose Building.