With her achievements, in 2017 and 2018, Le Thi Thanh Huyen was praised ‘the typical young face’ by the provincial Youth Union and Young Entrepreneurs Association.
Le Thi Thanh Huyen and students at the Pingo Foreign Language Center
A separate direction
Despite the startup story of Le Thi Thanh Huyen, a female director, is relatively smooth; but to Thanh Huyen, it is not natural, it is crystallized by her previous years of learning.
Huyen said, nearly 10 years ago, coming back home after studying abroad, she joined a foreign education center. There, she devoted with all her sense of responsibility; she also pondered and created many ways to complete the task as best as possible. She spent a lot of time researching and analyzing children's psychology and market development skills.
“The more I work, the more I enjoy my work, and realize how meaningful my job is. I am constantly creating and bringing opportunities for many children to access English effectively,” Huyen said.
But then, the story was not as originally intended. The Education Center that Huyen was working changed its strategy, applying technology entirely to education, letting children interact directly with the touch screen. "In terms of education, I totally disagreed with this method, but I could not change it so I had to leave," Huyen recalled.
Trapped in the field of children's English education, in 2014, Huyen decided to startup in the field of English education for children based on her experience. Since then, the Pingo Foreign Language Center system was born.
Since its inception, Huyen's goal for the center was to inspire learning English for children aged 3 to 15; combining English learning and life skills training, helping children access knowledge and apply it through a variety of hands-on experiential activities.
"From my experience, I realize that I can learn and grow a lot as I have practical experience. Thus, I want to educate children in that way," Huyen said.
Huyen believes that startup in education field is very different from other ones because it relates to future generations. Failure in education startup is not only a loss for entrepreneurs but more dangerously, it also affects the pupils, who are future owners of the country.
Therefore, entrepreneurs in education need to be the people with experience and knowledge about education; at the same time, they must be devoted and responsible to this field. Not just the leaders but the whole system, especially the teaching staff, must understand that requirement.
Setting responsibility for herself, Huyen outlined the strategy to implement her object. She directly came to Hue University of Foreign Languages to recruit personnel, then she directly retrained them to accomplish the goals set by her center.
According to Huyen’s analysis, each child has a unique characteristic, so their way to approach English is also different. There are children who love to listen, some children have very good writing skill, while others love to talk ... So Huyen trains and helps teachers have methods to stimulate their interest. “As they are respected, encouraged and stimulated, the children will show their ability, no longer feel pressure and stress with English," she said.
Self-confident
“I have just learned to be a reporter interviewing foreign tourists in Western Quarter. It is much fun. I will try to study English well," my friend’s little child, who was learning English at the Pingo Foreign Language Center System, showed me a few days ago.
Ms. Nguyen Chau Anh, Phu Nhuan Ward (Hue City), whose child is studying at the Pingo English Language Center System, said: “My child is learning and experiencing activities about life skills education; skills to determine the direction and skills to survive. Recently, the children have experienced the quintessence of Hue traditional craft art such as making Thanh Tien paper flowers, making Phuoc Tich pottery and making conical hats ... so they are very excited.”
That is the reason why Le Thi Thanh Huyen, the CEO, is self-confident to compete in the market. From an initial establishment, the Pingo Foreign Language Center System has now expanded to 7 establishments in Hue and Da Nang, attracting thousands of students. In 2018, its revenue reached 10 billion VND, creating stable jobs with an average salary of nearly 8 million VND / person / month for nearly 100 employees. The center has signed long-term contracts with 8 foreign teachers.
Huyen is currently cherishing a plan to cooperate with a number of foreign partners in order to do more in-depth research on English education for children; preparing an English project for specialized children; supporting children to have more opportunities to study and experience with international standards. To realize that idea, Huyen is currently attending an international master training course in education in France to prepare “luggage” for herself.
Story: Hai Thuan – Photo: Provided by owner