Many university students living in cramped rental rooms are struggling with the summer heat, especially when they have to study hard to prepare for upcoming exams.

Non-state schools limp along without financial support

The exam season always arrives in summer when temperatures reach 35-40oC. The weather in Hanoi is abnormally hot this year, equaling temperatures normal for the central region. Students who must live in cramped, rented rooms, joke that they must breathe through their ears in the summer heat.

By mid-day, temperatures inside these rooms are as high as outdoors. The rooms are just 9-10 square meters with tiny windows, so no breeze can enter.

In a small room at 100 Phao Dai Lang street, three students were seen sitting on the floor reviewing for exams. All three boys had stripped to the waist and wore only shorts. The only option to cool off is to wear as little as possible

Vinh, a student of Hanoi Law University, who shares a room with a friend at 287 Chua Lang Street, complained that, “It is terribly hot, though summer has just begun. We now have to study hard to prepare for exams, so we must struggle against a sea of difficulties.”

“Electric fans run all day, but they cannot help ease the heat,” he added.

The students with rooms facing the west suffer most. Hong Lien, a student of Civil Engineering University who lives in a room in Dinh Cong residential quarter, complained that she closes her doors all day, she still can feel the terrible heat of the summer. She explained that she and her friends tried to cover the westward entrance doors with canvas, but this did not alleviate the heat.

“Everything is hot in our room, including the sedge mats on which we sleep every day. Only the floor is a little cool,” she observed.

Dan Tri reporters visited students in Tu Liem district and saw pools of water in front of every room and dripping from the roof. When asked about the water, the students explained that the water helped reduce the heat.

The heat conquers poor students in the evenings as well. It was dark in most students’ rooms, because they went out to avoid the heat and returned to sleep around 11pm.

“We need to sleep well, because we have to study hard, but how can we sleep in such heat?,” Hoang Minh, a student of Mining and Geology University, queried.

Many students go to parks to enjoy a fresher atmosphere or go to supermarkets to avoid the heat. However, this method is not really helpful, because it takes time to travel and students do not have enough time to study.

Universities’ libraries are the ideal location to study and avoid the heat, but not all students can find seats in the narrow libraries.

Source: Dan tri