Though no official figure has been released so far, it is clear that the number of students dropping out since the Tet holiday in the Cuu Long River Delta has been increasing dramatically.

Students in Vien An Commune on the way to school

“There is no job in the commune, and people have to go to cities to work for others. Children have to give up school, because they have to go with their parents,” said Nam Nho in Tan Bien hamlet.

After the Tet holiday, Bach Van Dinh, a local resident, told his son, Bach Quoc Khang, a 7^th-grade student at Tan Hung Secondary School, and his daughter, Bach Anh Thu, a 3^rd-grade student at Tan Bien Primary School in Tan Hung commune, to give up school to look for jobs. Dinh and his wife both work; however, their salaries are too low so they decided to have their children begin working.

Le Loi High School in Soc Trang city always leads other schools in number of drops-out. After the first semester of the 2008-2009 school year, only 20% of students reportedly had the learning capacity at ‘medium’ and higher. In some classes, 100% of student had the learning capability at ‘weak’.

Number of drop-outs rising

“A lot of students from poor families may have to go work for others to earn money for their families. Moreover, Chonchnam-Thmay festival of Khmer people is coming, therefore, the number of drop-out students will keep rising,” said Pham Thi Cam Tu, Deputy Headmaster of Nguyen Khuyen High School in Soc Trang province.

Nguyen Minh Quang, Deputy Headmaster of Truong Xuan Secondary School in Co Do district in Can Tho city, complained that more and more students drop out after every semester or Tet. Quang said that the school’s teachers and local authorities have to visit families to persuade students to go back to school.

Truong Xuan Secondary School in Can Tho city said that most of its students have dropped out because their families have financial difficulties, or because they live too far from the school.

“Previously, 6^th- and 7^th-grade students had to travel 14 km to reach classes. The school now holds 6^th- and 7^th-grade classes at Truong Xuan A2 Primary School in order to shorten the road to school by 5-6 km.

Meanwhile, some 50% of drop-out students have bad learning capability so they are tired of learning. “It is very difficult to persuade them to go back to school,” said Quang from Truong Xuan School.

Tran Ngoc The, Headmaster of Dam Doi Secondary School in Ca Mau province, said that to date, 45 students of the school have dropped out (2.9%). More students have dropped since Tet.

Pham Thi Cam Tu, Deputy Headmaster of the Nguyen Khuyen High School in Soc Trang province, said that before the Tet holiday, teachers reminded students to return after Tet. However, Tu still fears that there will be a lot of students not coming back to school.

Dr Thai Van Long, People’s Teacher, Director of Ca Mau Education and Training Department, said that drop-outs are the headache of local authorities in Cuu Long River Delta provinces.

According to Ninh Thanh Vien, Deputy Director of the Kien Giang Education and Training, by Tet holiday, Kien Giang had had 3,701 pupils drop out.

Ca Mau is considered the locality which has the highest ratio of drop-outs, with 2.7% of primary school students, 7.5% of secondary school and 9.05% high school students giving up school.

VietNamNet/Tien phong