The university entrance exam will come in one month, and it
is now the time for examinees to spend money and time on exam preparation
classes and rent rooms in big cities. The escalating service fees have made many
students miserable.

Exam preparation centers gobble up students’ money

Exam preparation centers with classes open on different days have been
mushrooming since early summer, when the exam season came. The banderoles have
been hung over street corners, schools and exam preparation centers. Though the
private tutoring tuitions have increased dramatically, well- known exam
preparation centers like Cau Giay, Chua Boc and Yet Kieu have still been full of
registered students.

Every student now has to pay 1.5 million dong a month to attend exam preparation
classes instead of one million dong. Here, at the renowned learning centers,
there are the classes where 400 students sit in a room with the area of just 30
square meters.

It is not difficult for high school students in Hanoi to find good exam
preparation centers and good teachers. However, it is really a difficult job for
the examinees from other provinces to look for reliable exam preparation
centers.

Nguyen Mai Huong from Ninh Binh province related that she met a broker who
persuaded her to register to study at a class in Cau Giay district. Huong said
that the tuition is not high, at 45,000 dong per lesson, but the teaching is so
boring that many students have given up the class. However, Huong does not dare
to follow the friends, because she regrets the sum of money paid.

The banderoles to advertise exam preparations can be seen everywhere in big
cities, which have made students puzzled. Dao Thi Duyen from Thai Binh province,
said that it took her and her mother many days to look for suitable classes and
teachers. “I just followed others in choosing classes: I registered to study at
the classes, because I saw many others registering the classes already,” she
said.

Exam preparation centers have been trying to attract learners with special
marketing methods. An officer of the center on Xuan Thuy Road in Cau Giay
district stands in the street to deliver leaflets to advertise for the center.
Especially, the tuition here is advertised as very cheap at 20,000 dong per
learning shift.

Other centers have been introducing themselves as gathering the most excellent
teachers in the city, while some centers have affirmed that they once produced
the students, who came first at the university entrance exams in previous years.

Meanwhile, many parents in big cities have decided not to send their children to
crowded exam preparation centers, but to private tutoring classes. While exam
preparation centers gather students from all provinces and cities, private
tutoring classes with limited numbers of students mostly gather students in big
cities.

Le Hoa, a parent in Hoan Kiem district, has decided to invite a mathematics
tutor for her son. The advantage of the tutoring is that every teacher only has
one or two students; therefore, he would have much more time to take care for
students.

The season of earning money for landlords

The rooms in the areas near big universities have been hunted by students, who
come from provinces and want to seek rooms to stay during the time in Hanoi

The room rents have been hovering around one million dong to 1.7 million dong
for a 7-15 square meter room. Even though accepting the higher rentals, it is
not easy to find rooms to rent at this moment.

Nguyen Van Hai, a student from Hai Duong, feels lucky with the 10 square meter
room rent at 1.3 million dong a month. He said that a relative of his booked the
room before, while it is now impossible to find rooms to rent now.

It is now the season of earning money for landlords. They collect 600-800,000
dong a month from students for every cramped and dank room.

A woman from Thanh Hoa province complains that her daughter is now staying at a
small room for which she has to pay 700,000 dong a month. “It is now very hot in
summer, while my daughter cannot sleep when it rains due to water leaking from
the roof,” she complains. “I wish my daughter can finish exams soon and return
to the home village”.

Thu Thao – Quoc Dung