According to the Eurasia Association for Happiness and Wellbeing, an organization founded by Prof. Dr. Ha Vinh Tho in Vietnam, he breathed his last on September 26 in Switzerland. Just one day later was his 75th birthday (September 27, 1951).

The passing of the Professor is a great loss to the Vietnamese education community, especially to generations of students, colleagues and those interested in building a happy school environment.

A representative of the Eurasia Foundation shared: “The moment of his passing was so gentle, full of peace, love and gratitude… His life was a gift of kindness, generosity and love, forever a source of inspiration and strength for all of us.”

One of the university administrators who introduced the happiness education program into schools in Vietnam - Dr. Pham Quoc Loc, expressed: Professor Ha Vinh Tho is the one who introduced the concept of happiness into education in Vietnam. His name has become familiar to the happiness community and is the link connecting people who share this concern.

Professor Ha Vinh Tho.jpg
Professor Ha Vinh Tho is the person who introduced the concept of happiness into education in Vietnam. Photo: Eurasia Learning Institute

People spreading the idea of ​​"Happy School"

Prof. Dr. Ha Vinh Tho is a French-Vietnamese, living in Switzerland. He used to be the Program Director of the Gross National Happiness Centre in Bhutan - the country famous as "the happiest in the world ". He is known as a prestigious international speaker on the topics of "Gross National Happiness", "Happiness and Peace", "Behind GDP".

He is often mentioned in the international education community through his teacher training programs on “Happy School”. Returning to Vietnam, the Professor persistently implemented this model, starting from his hometown of Thua Thien Hue , with the desire to help education shift from “cramming knowledge” to nurturing emotions, qualities and life skills for students.

Not only did he found the Eurasia Association for Happiness and Wellbeing, he also compiled a curriculum on emotional development and environmental awareness for public schools, contributing to the promotion of comprehensive education.

Journey to sow happiness in hometown

In 1982, at the age of 30, Ha Vinh Tho returned to Vietnam for the first time with his father. At that time, he was the director of a teacher training school in Switzerland and joined a community supporting children with special circumstances. The trip inspired in him the will to contribute to the children of Vietnam.

He said: “The first person I met in Hanoi was Dr. Nguyen Khac Vien. He told me: Now that the whole country is unified, we should focus on children's development.”

The question “in that development, what is more important than happiness?” followed him throughout his life and led him to Bhutan, where he further understood the importance of happiness as a development goal.

Philosophy of happiness

For Professor Ha Vinh Tho, happiness is not something to wait for, but a skill that needs to be learned from childhood. He has repeatedly emphasized that economic growth alone is not enough to create sustainable happiness, because “there can be no unlimited growth on a finite planet”. He calls on humanity to “wake up”, focusing on inner development and quality relationships, instead of just pursuing material wealth.

He also devoted much effort to educational reform in Vietnam, believing that education must help the young generation develop creativity, the ability to distinguish right from wrong, skills and qualities that machines cannot replace.

In addition, Professor Ha Vinh Tho left behind many works on Education and Happiness such as: Happy School, Happy Children, Happy Families, Happy Village, Many Faces of Love, The Road to Happiness. Before passing away, the Professor also completed his last work "The Art and Science of Transformation and Manifestation: Insights from Buddhism and Neuroscience" which is being translated and published by his students and Thaihabooks.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/giao-su-ha-vinh-tho-tac-gia-truong-hoc-hanh-phuc-qua-doi-2447101.html