Many poor Vietnamese students could not go back to school because they do not have enough money to pay for school fees at the beginning of the new academic year, experts said. Vo Thi Lanh, a worker of the Cai Doi Vam Seafood Export Company, complained that she has to borrow money from relatives to pay school fees for two children. Lanh can earn VND800,000 a month these days. Meanwhile, Lanh’s husband is a construction worker, who does not have stable income. Lanh added that she has to pay VND914,000 for the son, a 6th grader of Le Hong Phong Secondary School, and VND510,000 for the daughter, a third grader of Cai Doi Vam 1 Primary School.
“The sums of money are double that of the previous year,” she complained. “Besides, I also have spent money to buy textbooks, clothes and schoolbags for them. This will be very costly.”
In fact, a lot of students still cannot go to classes just because their parents have not paid money yet. Nguyen Thi Phuong, 24, said that Pham Hong An, Headmaster of Cai Doi Vam Primary School No 2 refused to allow Phuong’s daughter to enter the class because Phuong has not paid the requested money. Many parents are also sitting the same boat with Lanh families who are struggling with rising living costs amid inflation, experts noted. (VietNamNet Aug 22)
