Sep 9, 2012

Vietnam - The tottering path to school

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VietNamNet Bridge – The new academic year has begun, but a lot of schools in Vietnam still have not got ready for it: the material facilities have degraded; students attempt to drop out, while dangers await students on the way to schools.

A lot of schools have been projected in the Mekong Delta. However, they have arisen only on paper, not in reality yet simply because of the lack of capital. As a result, for the last many years, students there still have to study in short-lived and cramped classrooms.

The school without toilet

The Phong Thanh Primary School in Gia Rai district of Bac Lieu province has been famous as the worst school in terms of material facilities in the Mekong Delta. Built up 33 years ago, the school has degraded seriously. For the last six years, the teachers and students have to teach and study in a constant anxiety that the classrooms may collapse at any time.

The new academic year has begun, but the teachers of the Phong Thanh School are still busy tidying up and re-arranging offices.

“After a lot of petitions, the school got a budget to upgrade material facilities. However, we still feel insecure with the current conditions,” said Huynh Van Tuan, Deputy Headmaster of the school, pointing to the big cracks on the wall.

Old tables and blackboards are still used here at the school, while the windows in many classrooms have been lost, or broken down. They have not been replaced with the new ones, because of no money.

Besides the main campus, the Phong Thanh Primary school organizes teaching hours in four other branches which are also in very bad conditions. The branch located in Hamlet No. 22 always gets deeply inundated when it rains.

Especially, there has been no toilet at the school for the last many years. Tuan said the local authorities have approved the budget of 4 billion dong to build a new school. However, to date, the disbursement has not been made yet so far.

“We are so looking forward to having a new school. If so, we will not have to worry about heavy rains and scorching sun. New school with good material facilities would help attract more students,” Tuan said, adding that a lot of students have given up the school, because they could not stand the poor conditions here.

Students collapse when standing during lesson hours

School degradation has always been a headache for the schools in the central region.

The Tra Veo Primary School in Tay Tra district of Quang Ngai province has just four “classrooms,” including one made of bricks and the other three made of bamboo wattles with no chairs and tables, no blackboard and chalk. Those, who visit the school, would see the teachers and students standing during the lessons, simply because there are no chairs in the classrooms.

Huynh Thi Hai Van, a teacher of the Tra Veo Primary School, said that students still cannot write down in their notebooks, because of no table. “Since students have to stand during the lessons, many of them dropped into the floor. When it is hot, students sweat heavily, and when it rains, they get soaking wet.

Nguyen Cong, Deputy Headmaster of the Tra Xinh Primary School, said that most of his students are from poor families. They go to school in the morning, then go with the parents to the forest to pick up vegetables.

“Many students faint during the lessons just because of hunger,” he said.

Compiled by Thu Uyen


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