A highland school's unique approach: rewarding outstanding students with Ngoc Linh ginseng seedlings

A breakthrough from a "special" graduation ceremony

Award ceremony activities at Tra Nam School

On the morning of May 29, 2026, amid the joyful atmosphere of the final days of the school year, Tra Nam Semi-Boarding Ethnic Primary and Lower Secondary School (located in Tra Linh commune) solemnly held its closing ceremony and honored students with outstanding academic achievements in the 2025–2026 school year.

This year's ceremony attracted special attention from parents and the local community due to an unprecedented change. When the names of good and outstanding students were called, the rewards they received on the podium were no longer the usual notebooks or pencil cases, but rather lush green Ngoc Linh ginseng seedlings. This is considered one of the most unique and locally distinctive forms of commendation ever in the highland education system.

According to the school's summary report, in the 2025-2026 school year, the school had a total of 338 students enrolled in primary and lower secondary levels. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of both teachers and students to overcome challenges, by the end of the school year, the school was honored to have 51 students achieve "Good" and "Excellent" titles. Among them, 8 students achieved "Good" in lower secondary school, and 43 students achieved "Excellent" in primary school.

To encourage these 51 dedicated students, the school decided to give each of them 5 Ngoc Linh ginseng seedlings. All the seedlings are already 2 years old, are thriving, and currently have an economic value of around VND 200,000 per plant. Each reward the students take home is therefore worth up to VND 1 million - a substantial sum for highland families, but more important is the long-term livelihood value this rare and precious medicinal plant offers.

Shifting mindsets based on the specific realities of semi-boarding schools

Regarding this decision, Mr. Vo Dang Chin - Principal of the school, said that Tra Linh commune is the capital locality, where many households directly live and develop their economy by cultivating Ngoc Linh ginseng under the forest canopy. Moreover, as an ethnic minority semi-boarding school, most students eat, live, and board at the school. All essential textbooks and learning tools for teaching and studying have been proactively prepared in full by the school for the students right from the beginning of the school year.

Therefore, continuing to award notebooks at the end of the school year would result in excess and fail to optimize their value. Based on that reality, the Board of Directors of Tra Nam Ethnic Boarding Primary and Lower Secondary School, together with the teaching staff, discussed and agreed to change the reward format to make it more practical and suited to local needs and soil conditions.

It is known that the funding to implement this meaningful activity comes partly from the school's official commendation fund, and the rest from the enthusiastic support and contributions of several teachers in the school who are also engaged in ginseng cultivation in the local area.

Sowing seeds of knowledge, harvesting the future

This school year-end gift goes beyond mere material value, carrying profound educational meaning and livelihood guidance. Since the students are still young, after receiving the ginseng seedlings at the closing ceremony, their parents and relatives will take them home to plant, tend, and propagate them under ecological forest canopies on their behalf.

When these ginseng plants mature and are harvested, they will become an important financial resource contributing to family economies, while creating solid savings to support the children in continuing their education at higher levels.

“The school hopes this gift will not only encourage students in their studies but also raise their awareness of environmental protection and strengthen their connection with Ngoc Linh ginseng - a medicinal plant characteristic of the local area”, shared Mr. Vo Dang Chin, Principal of the school.

The harmonious combination between academic education and the development of local specialty agriculture at Tra Nam school has opened up a promising path. At the end of the ceremony, school leaders affirmed that, based on positive feedback from parents and practical results, the school plans to maintain and promote this unique reward form of gifting ginseng seedlings in the following school years./.