Seven employees from UNIS Hanoi were recently recognised by their colleagues for their 25 years of service to the School. 

Le Thuy An, Nguyen Xuan Loc, Nguyen Thi Minh Thanh, Nguyen Thi Tinh, Nguyen Tra Huong, Nguyen Tien Hien and Phan Thuy Van have worked in various capacities at the School for two and a half decades. As a collective they’ve worked on three different campuses, under six Heads of School and witnessed UNIS Hanoi flourish from approximately 300 students to over 1,000!

 

“I feel as if I’ve seen UNIS Hanoi grow up,” said Ms Huong, a procurement officer. “Even the way we work has evolved. I remember when we started out, we had only one computer on campus, but now technology has advanced so much.”

 

 

It’s not just technology that’s transformed over the years, the method of teaching at UNIS has been eye-opening for faculty such as Ms Le, an Elementary School Teaching Assistant. She explained, “From the first time I entered a Kindergarten class, I was overwhelmed. Students were spread out, doing different things at the same time and I wondered how the teacher was able to manage a busy classroom like that. This was quite different from the classrooms I’d known in Viet Nam. I find myself still overwhelmed by it all sometimes, but I think UNIS is a great school for students because there is so much on offer for them.”

 

Outside of the classroom, Ms Thanh, Mr Loc, Mr Hien and Mr Tinh feel they’ve been given opportunities to contribute to the learning environment too, especially during Covid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While the majority of learning took place online and off campus, the four were part of a small group of workers who volunteered to keep the campus well maintained, secure and clean.

 

 

 

One of UNIS’ cleaners, Ms Thanh shared, “The past two years have been very challenging, and as a cleaner, there was more cleaning to be done. I was one of seven cleaners who were responsible for cleaning every single surface, every single room and hall. In fact, we even swept the paths and yards! It was a tough time, but we were happy to do it because we felt we were contributing to keeping our community safe.”

 

 

 

Mr Loc, a handyman, agreed. He added, “During that time, we came together, taking turns to look after the campus.”

When campus reopened to the community again, the security team was on the frontlines - ensuring every visitor
to campus was Covid free and accounted for. 

 

 

Overall the work, the group said, has been varied, and even after 25 years, they remain happy to be working at UNIS.

“We love being part of an inspiring, international community” affirmed Ms Van, who is a Teaching Assistant for Secondary School science. “UNIS is our second home.”