Samthong College
| Samthong Middle HIgh School (ໂຮງຮຽນ ມັດທະຍົມ ຊຳທອງ) | |
|---|---|
 Samgthong Middle High School, at the foot of the mountains, under the trees faraway View from the Airport | |
| Location | |
Samthong or Sam Thong , Laos | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public school |
| Established | 1966 |
| Founder | General Vang Pao and the Xiangkhouang province leaders |
| Status | Closed |
| Closed | 1975 |
| Principal | Khamleck 1966 - 1969, Toufue Vang 1969 - 1971, Maxime Lesage 1971 - 1974, Ly Chao 1974/75 |
| Grades | 6th - 9th |
| Schedule | 8 hours per day |
| Sports | Soccer and volleyball |
Samthong college (ໂຮງຮຽນ ມັດທະຍົມ ຊຳທອງ)[1][2] is a middle high school located in Sam Thong, Laos. It was founded in 1966 in the city of Sam Thong[3][4] during the Vietnam War of 1961–1975. The school was about one mile faraway from downtown Sam Thong.
History[edit]
Samthong College (college de Samthong)[5][6] was founded 1966. This was the first school and the highest one in history of Xiangkhouang Province. The first principal was Prof. Khamleck, then followed by Tou-Fu Vang [7] in September 1969 before school moving to Vientiane in Fa Ngum High School[8] at Sokpaluang.
When the Middle High School opened its doors, there were about thirty five students at the start of the 1966/67[9] school year. It was the beginning of the class of 6th B. The following year, there were two classes, one of which was the class of 6th B, then the other was the class of 6th A. Each year, the school added a higher class to go to 3th (grade 9th). As the number of students increased steadily every year due to the high number of applications, only students who passed the entrance exams were admitted. Then, only the best grades were accepted. This was the secondary education policy in Laos at that time.
Due to government policy at the time, secondary education in Laos did not exist before France's protectorate. Starting from the class 6th (grade 6th), teaching was all in French language.[10] No matter what mathematics, geography, history and others are, the system of the secondary education in Laos was almost part in French language, especially in middle and high schools. Lao's national education started to develop only thereafter Auguste Pavie, arrived in Luang Prabang, Laos, in 1893.[11]
The middle high school was ranked the highest school in Xiangkhouang province, due to its teaching classes of 6th B, 6th A, 5th, 4th, and 3th (grade 9th). The class of 3th (grade 9th) was in Muangcha, Muang Xaisomboun province in 1974/75. Besides Samthong college, the other schools of the Xiangkhouang province were almost all primary schools
In 1970, war, Campaign 139, poisoned the city of Sam Thong, forcing Samthong middle high school[12] to move to Vientiane to set up its classrooms in the buildings of Fa Ngum High School in Sokpaluang. The installation came from the Ministry of National Education of Laos. It should be for only a few months, but it lasted for years. For that year, there were classes from 6th B - up to 4th.
Few months after moving to Vientiane, Tou-Fu Vang who was the Principal[13] at the time and Wangyee Vang,[14] a mathematic teacher, resigned their position then went to join the army of General Vang Pao. It was then that he was replaced by Maxime Lesage, a Frenchman of Puducherry (union territory) origin, as principal starting 1971/72 school year.
Under the policy and direction of Maxime Lesage when he was headmaster from 1971 to 1974, there was an enormous progression in the teaching of all areas and also in student results. Many students were able to enroll in any high school or technical training and vocational high schools. One of them joined General Vang Pao's Air Force T-28 pilot squadron[15]. Some went to enroll in Dongdok University and the others to Lycee Pavie de Vientiane. Today, the Dongdok university does not exist anymore, it has become National University of Laos.
In 1974, it is when the war ended, the country came under the political supervision of the Democratic People's Republic of Laos, Samthong middle high school returned to the province of Muang Xaisomboun province, which was the former province of Xiangkhouang before, where Maxime Lesage is replaced by Pr Ly Chao as the new Principal of Samthong Middle High School. Starting from 1974/75 school year, the national education administration of Xiangkhouang and the boards of Samthong middle high school with the Director of the school decided to add teachers and two more grade 6th preparatory classes. In these classes, there were about 30 students per class. This is to increase more students in Samthong middle high school for years to come. These extra-classes were called "School Lao Huamphao".
In May 1975, a year after the school moved to (Muangcha) Muang Xaisomboun province from Fa Ngum High School in Sokpaluang, Vientiane, there was a political disaster in Laos. These were problems between the population and the policy of the Democratic People's Republic of Laos. Starting there, Samthong middle high school's students fled their home with their families to join refugee camps in Thailand to claim political asylum. From there, Samthong Middle High School has since been closed.
Thanks Samthong Middle High School and a part of the Vietnam War, many students of this school left their hometown to flee the country of Laos and immigrate to western countries such as United States for the most part, and then to France, Australia, and Canada. Today, some of these students have become medical doctors, engineers, computer science, accountants afterwards in the United States, France, Australia, and Laos.
Demographics[edit]
The school students were divided by different demographic[16] groups of tribes such as Lao people ethnic tribes and Hmong / Miao people hill tribes. For unknown reasons, there were no children from other ethnic groups such as Khmu, Lao Theung and Yao or Tai Dam in this school. These people were mostly nomads like so many other hill tribes, e.g. the Hmong tribes. From the beginning of the school until the closure of this school establishment, the majority of the students were mainly children of the Hmong ethnic group. Only 15% of the students were Laotian. Among the college students, there were only four girls. The rest were all boys. In 1972, one of the girls was in eighth grade, the other two were in seventh grade, then the last one was in sixth grade A. All of these girls were Laotian, no one was a Hmong girl during this time. As for the teachers and directors of the Middle High School, there were six Hmongs, four Laotians, then two others from India and Pondicherry (union territory).
Athletics[edit]
Soccer (football)[edit]
Samthong Middle High School has a football club, it was founded in 1968. Although the students played less other sports like volleyball, basketball, tennis and a few other sports, but people had changed that over time. At the time, football (soccer) was the favorite sport of Southeast Asian countries. Competitive amateur club matches were mostly played between schools or city football club teams at this time. Sometimes matches were played between the Samthong College team and General Vang Pao's soldiers. Most of the time it was between high school teams. Samthong Middle School Football Club has won several Hmong New Year Cup tournaments in Sam Thong and Long Tieng in Xiangkhouang Province . The club ranked among the top teams in Xiangkhouang Province at the end of 1970s.
Notable alumni[edit]
- Lormong Lo was the first Hmong American to be appointed to a city council in the state of Nebraska.in the U.S in June 1994. in June 1997, Lo was elected in his own right to a second term of four years. That same June, Lo was the first Hmong ever to become president of a city council in the US, the Omaha City Council. Lo was a student at Samthong college, Middle High School, until 1975 before fleeing to Nong Khai Thai refugee camp and then to the United States.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Sam Thong or Samthong college". Archived from the original on 2022-01-18. Retrieved 2022-01-18. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Samthong INS". Archived from the original on 2022-01-18. Retrieved 2022-01-18. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Sam Thong by Paul Carter in April 30, 2020". Archived from the original on February 21, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Benson, Frederic C. "Sam Thong - UWDC - UW-Madison Libraries".
- ↑ "US AID MISSION TO LAOS MEMORANDUM; ON PAGE #5 OF 50/EDUCATION" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-05-05. Retrieved 2022-05-05. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Samthong college". Archived from the original on 2022-01-18. Retrieved 2022-01-18. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Tou-Fu Vang". StarTribune. Archived from the original on 2022-03-11. Retrieved 2022-03-11. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Fa Ngum High School". Archived from the original on 2022-04-24. Retrieved 2022-04-24. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "US AID MISSION TO LAOS MEMORANDUM; ON PAGE #8 OF 50/Public Secondary Schools" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-05-05. Retrieved 2022-05-05. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "French colonial education policy and practice". Archived from the original on 2022-02-06. Retrieved 2022-02-06. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "French colonialism sponsored and restructured Lao education and Lao Buddhism". Archived from the original on 2022-02-06. Retrieved 2022-02-06. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Jane Hamilton-Merrit. "Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, the Americans, and the Secret War".
- ↑ "Tou-Fu Vang". By Mara Klecker Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 2022-03-11. Retrieved 2022-03-11. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Wangyee, a mathematic teacher at Samthong college in 1969-1970" (PDF) (in us).CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
- ↑ Chia Youyee Vang. "Flying Until You Die".
- ↑ "US AID MISSION TO LAOS MEMORANDUM; ON PAGE 3 OF 50/BASIC GEOGRAPHIC/DEMOGRAPHIC DATA" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-05-05. Retrieved 2022-05-05. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
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