About
the Phạm Kiêm Âu Scholarships
(Text modified February 2012)
Mr. Phạm Kiêm Âu was born in 1919,
in Hội An Village, Sa-Đéc, Đồng Tháp Province, Việt Nam.
For almost 40 years, from 1944 to 1982, he taught at numerous secondary
schools in Cần Thơ, Quảng Bình, and Huế, and at the University of Huế. The
majority of his teaching career was spent in Huế, where he taught at the Đồng
Khánh Secondary School for Girls for over 20 years, from 1955 to 1976. He
retired in 1982. At the time he was teaching in the French Department of the
Faculty of Pedagogy of Huế.
After he passed away in September 1994, a number of his former
students living abroad sent money to his family, as contributions towards the
construction of a tomb for him. His family, with the agreement of these former
students, used this money to provide scholarships for school pupils in need,
and from this, the idea of a scholarship fund in his name was born. This
scholarship fund’s aim was to provide financial assistance to pupils from
poorer families, who were studying hard in school. From this simple beginning,
the scholarship fund has gradually received the support of increasing numbers
of former students, friends, relatives, and wellwishers, as well as of Phạm
Kiêm Âu’s family. All these contributions have allowed the scholarship fund to
continue, and expand the numbers of schools and pupils receiving scholarships.
As the scholarship fund is a charitable cause, the administrators
managing the fund work on the principle of keeping all donations for the
scholarships, and receive no salary, benefits, or expenses in any form. This
principle provides the foundation for ensuring that the scholarship fund
continues to maintain its charitable purpose.
After over 15 years of providing scholarships, the fund
organisation has had the opportunity to look back on the road travelled, and
think of more practical ways of operating. From this, it has been decided that,
from the academic year 2009-2010 onwards, the scholarships will be aimed at secondary
school pupils in the Thừa Thiên Huế Province, mainly pupils in their early
teens, who are trying hard at school, and are either from families in difficult
financial circumstances, or who are obliged to do manual work to support their
families as well as going to school. The boards of the schools attended by
these pupils will provide written evidence that the pupils meet the criteria
for the scholarship, and these documents will be checked and assessed by the
administrators of the scholarship fund, who will then distribute the
scholarships.
It is hoped that, with scholarships of 500,000 VND per year, we can, in some small
way, help to ease these pupils’ situations, and by doing so, improve their
education, as well as providing further motivation for studying in secondary
schools.
This was also Mr. Phạm Kiêm Âu’s wish for his own students.
The Phạm Kiêm Âu Scholarship fund
Học bổng Phạm Kiêm Âu:
phamatu05@gmail.com
Please send all donations to:
Phạm Anh Tú
Phạm Anh Tú
Address:
68 Lê Lợi Huế,
Mobile:
098 907 7625
E-mail : phamatu05@gmail.com
E-mail : phamatu05@gmail.com