The telephone at the secretariat of the Nghe An Education and Training Department these days is ringing all the time as local authorities continuously report new information about drop-outs.
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Luong Van Thang (sitting with arms folded), the student, who has returned to school after his teacher came to his house 20 times to persuade him to go back to school |
The number of drop-out pupils in the central province of Nghe An is being updated monthly by the local education and training department. Deputy Chief Secretariat of the Nghe An Education and Training Department Dao Cong Loi said that 10,700 students have given up school since September 25, 2007, including 1,000 students of continuation schools and more than 9,000 students of popular schools.
Less students drop out these days compared to the first months of the academic year, but local residents say that the number of drop-outs rises in the summer, before new academic years, and the number of drop-outs this year may be higher than last year.
The district with only one high school
Quy Chau is one of the five remote districts in Nghe An province. It takes three hours to go on coach from the Yen Ly triangle (50 km from Vinh city) to Quy Chau (100 km from Yen Ly). There are 11 communes in the district, and 40 schools, mostly kindergartens, primary and secondary schools. There is only one high school in the district.
Head of the Quy Chau Education Sub-department Vo Thi Loc said that the district does not intend to build more high schools, because students do not want to go to high school.
She said that in the 2006-2007 academic year, the district had 1,000-1,200 students graduating from secondary education, but only 50% (600-700) went to high school.
Cao Thanh Luong, headmaster of the high school, said that the number of 10th classes in 2007-2008 was one class less than previous years and the number may be even lower due to the bad quality of students. In the last two years, 75-80 students dropped out each year, double that of previous years.
The Nghe An Broadcasting Station reported that now 20,000 households are still living in the light of oil lamps. In many communes including Chau Hoan, Chau Phong, Dien Lam and Chau Nga, people have never seen light in their houses.
Going to school on an empty stomach
In Chau Hoan commune, 40 km from the district, 60% of households are poor.
It took reporters one hour to go on motorbike to the commune. The trip made them tired as the road was very tough. However, reporters were told that it is now easier to go on the road than previously, when travelling on motorbike was impossible.
The school here has five classes, from 1st to 5th; 100% of students are of Thanh ethnic minority. Duong Thi Le, the teacher of 5E class, said that though students from Thung Khang mountain village can enjoy fee exemption, they still do not want to go to school. Many students go to school with empty stomachs and no textbooks.
Headmaster of Chau Hanh 2 Primary School Sam Thi Vien related that one day, a teacher brought a student to the school’s health care room as he looked seriously ill. In fact, he had not had either breakfast or lunch that day and was exhausted at 3 pm of hunger. The student recovered after he ate instant noodles.
Vien related that previously, teachers at the school contributed VND15,000/person/month to buy food for students. However, since March, the school gets VND5mil a month from a donor. She is happy because with the sum of money, students can go to school regularly and they may not think of giving up school.
At Chau Binh Primary School No 2 in Thung Khang village, in order to retain students, teachers have to buy a lot of biscuits and candy for students. Thanks to sweet candies, more students want to go to school.
Le, a teacher at the school, said that she could not remember how many students she had persuaded to go back to school. She said that sometimes parents of students cast her out when she went to persuade the students to return to school.
Le pointed to a student, named Luong Van Thang, saying that she had to go to his house 20 times over 4 weeks to persuade him to go back to school.
Here, in the rainy season, teachers and students have to go to school on ferry boat. Mai Thi Ha, a ferry-woman, said that everyday she has to get up at 5 am to carry students across the river. She carries 200 students to their schools over 1.5 hours in the morning. Students can take the ferry free of charge. Ha said that she gets 120 kg of unhusked rice every month.
Kieu Oanh
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