Hue National School is situated aside Huong River in Vinh Ninh ward, Hue city, Thua Thien Hue province. It was born over a century ago due to the French’s conspiracy on slaving culture. Many revolutionaries used to study here.
After graduation at France-Vietnam Dong Ba Primary school, the student Nguyen Sinh Cung (or Nguyen Tat Thanh, name of President Ho Chi Minh at that time) passed the entrance exam to Hue National School. The school had two rows of thatched huts with brick walls and wooden pillar, overlooking Huong River and opposite Jules Ferry street (Le Loi street today). The school gate included two storeys, the upper was used to hang the board carved with the vermilion lacquered and gilded words “National School” and the relief of two dragons at both sides. At present, on the fencing wall at the right side of the main gate retains “binh phong”.
National School was established with aim of training the students working for the feudal colonial government. Therefore, French literature was the main subject in curriculum Most of the teachers were French. The school was under the control of French Resident Superior of Central Vietnam. The subjects for the enrollment of the school are:
- The son of the King’s relatives
- The son of royal families
- The son of mandarins
- The student of Thanh Nhon school and Quoc Tu Giam school
In 1915, when the decree annulling Emperor ancient exam in the province and the ancient exam of the capital in the North was released, the National School was rebuilt. The rows of cottages were removed and replaced by two rows of brick buildings with tiled roofs and Western European architecture style. Basically, these architectures have been existed so far. In 1932, the school opened specialized classed and renamed to Khai Dinh Secondary school. When the resistance war against French broke out on 19 December 1946, the school was moved into two places, following the resistance:
The first branch was given name Binh Tri Thien school and situated in Huong Khe, Ha Tinh
The second branch, the main part of the school was located in Duc Tho, Ha Tinh under the name of Huynh Thuc Khanh school. The branch came back to Hue after ten years of disruption and occupied by the French to serve as military’s station. On 29 April 1955, the school was restored and put into operation until now.
Currently, Hue National School still continues developing good traditions in training the young generations. The school opened the specialized classes to attract the gifted students of the province, making a contribution to coaching the talents for the province and the country.
Unlike any other big city in Vietnam, scenes and people in Hue are very tranquil and graceful. Hue is especially suitable to those who wish to find private moment and slow living.