VietNamNet Bridge - A report on school health situation released by the Ministries of Health and Education & Training showed that 16.9 percent of students had intention to commit suicide, and of these, 21.8 percent had to receive medical treatment.

The report has triggered a hot debate on education forums because it shows an increasingly high number of students who tried to commit suicide because of pressure.

“There are many reasons that lead students to committing suicide. However, it is the adults’ fault,” said Nguyen Tung Lam, a renowned educator, now headmaster of Dinh Tien Hoang people-founded school.

What is happening with students and national education? Lam said it seems that students have to study too much. They attend school in constant anxiety.

“The curriculum is too heavy. Students have to take on too many things. Studying hard to pass exams is students’ permanent concern,” he commented. “Meanwhile, students are not equipped with reasonable learning methods and necessary skills,and therefore, they feel a lot of pressure.”

Students try to commit suicide because they think it is an escape them from the pressure.

16.9 percent of students had intention to commit suicide, and of these, 21.8 percent had to receive medical treatment.

Pham Nguyen Quynh Thu, a parent from district 9 in HCM City, in her email to the editorial board, commented that a heavy burden is put on students’ shoulders.

To prove her viewpoint, Thu showed her daughter’s busy learning schedule. 

The girl has to get up at 5.45 am so that she can leave home for school at 6.30 am. The morning shift stops at 11.30 am and the girl has to get home to have a quick lunch before she leaves home again at 12.45 pm for the afternoon shift. In the evening, she has to go to extra classes until 8 pm.

“Sometimes I urge my daughter to go to bed soon, but she said she still has homework to do,” Thu wrote. “My daughter has to work hard every day.”

Do Tan Ngoc from Huynh Thuc Khang High School in Quang Ngai province believes that the problem lies in national education which suffers from the ‘achievement disease’ and tries to force students to learn too hard. 

He also thinks it is the fault of parents who have high expectations for their children, and therefore, place a burden on them.

Lam also thinks Vietnamese parents tend to force their children to go the way they program, not the way their children want.


NLD