Everyone has a part to play to keep students from dropping out in the Cuu Long
(Mekong) Delta this school year, speakers said at a meeting in Dong Thap
Province last Friday.

The
dropout rate has reduced compared to previous years, but is still high, so a
combined effort will be needed, according to speakers at the meeting.

Students study maths at Thoai Giang Primary School in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang’s Thoai Son District. The drop-out rate in the Mekong Delta region has fallen compared to previous years, but remains high. (Photo: VNS)

The
dropout rate at primary schools in the Delta at the beginning of this school
year is 0.34 per cent; junior high schools, 2.28 per cent; and senior high
schools, 3.58 per cent.

Soc
Trang, An Giang, Dong Thap, Bac Lieu and Long An provinces have the highest
dropout rate at junior and senior high schools in the Delta.

Soc
Trang Province has the highest dropout rate at senior high schools with 9.35 per
cent, followed by Kien Giang with 5.6 per cent, Long An and Dong Thap, more than
3 per cent.

Pham Vu
Luan, Minister of Education and Training, said there were two reasons why many
students in the Delta gave up their studies – one, they have poor study results
and can not keep up with the school curriculum, and two their families are poor
and they have to quit school to work.

The
departments of Education and Training in the Delta’s provinces must strengthen
co-operation with local authorities and other sectors to encourage students to
come to school, Luan said.

So far
the departments of Education and Training in several provinces have worked to
help weak students to improve their study results, improve teaching conditions,
and mobilise money from sectors to help students from poor families.

An Giang
Province for instance provides extra remedial classes and has a programme that
pairs strong students with weaker ones in class.

The An
Giang Province Department of Education and Training said students had responded
well and the dropout rate had reduced.

Nguyen
Van Binh, director of the An Giang Province Department of Education and
Training, said: “We think encouraging a good student to help a weaker student is
very effective because they are friends and are not shy with each other when
learning with each other.”

In Hau
Giang Province, the Department of Education and Training has launched a
programme in which each official, staff and teacher in the department donate
VND10,000-100,000 a month to support students.

The
department has raised about VND200 million a month for poor students.

Bui Van
Dung, director of the Hau Giang Province Department of Education and Training,
said with this money many students who are at risk of quitting school are able
to continue their study.

Since
the beginning of this school year, the Hau Giang Province Party Committee has
also ordered all departments, sectors and organisations to support one school
each.

About
300 out of 400 schools in Hau Giang have now got outside financial support,
adding up to a huge VND5 billion (US$260,000) to help students from poor
families go to school.

In Soc
Trang Province, the provincial Department of Education and Training is raising
money to build charity houses for students from poor families.

Vinh
Long Province has also encouraged contributions from teachers to provide free
lunches for poor students who travel long distances to school.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News