Two students go to their elementary school in the flood season in the Mekong Delta

Efforts by local governments to have students stay on in school have decreased the drop out rate, but thousands in the Mekong Delta have stopped attending school in the first semester, a conference heard Sunday.

Most of the dropouts were students at secondary and high schools at more than 2,000 each, the representative said.

A similar situation was reported in Hau Giang Province, where 2,300 students have dropped out, while Bac Lieu recorded 2,000 dropouts when the school year began in September.

Le Ngoc Buu, director of Ben Tre Province’s education department, said 1,672 students had quit school during this semester, although the rate of dropouts to total students at his locality has decreased sharply.

Many students stopped studying due to their poor academic performance, Buu said.

Other reasons include financial problems and the density of rivers, making it hard for students to get to school, speakers said at the conference.

Known for its high percentage of dropouts, the Mekong Delta last school year reported 0.88 percent of students quit school in the first semester.

The percentage of dropouts has decreased to 0.49 thanks generally to several measures taken, like supporting poor students with cooking, clothes, books and boat fares to encourage them to return to school, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien Nhan said at the conference.

However, all localities must strengthen efforts to encourage more students to come back to school, he said.

Source: Tuoi Tre