VietNamNet Bridge – An 11th grader in Hanoi has been expelled from a high school because he is not a permanent resident of the capital city.

A handwritten letter to the President has been posted on social network which has stirred the netizens’ community.

The writer was Do Hong Son, a student of the Tran Hung Dao High School in Thanh Xuan district in Hanoi, who asked for the President’s intervention so as he can go back to school.

Son wrote that he has been expelled from the school because he has no residence book which shows that he is a permanent citizen of the capital city.

Son’s parents live in Hanoi and earn their living as freelancers. He passed the school entrance exam one year ago with 50 marks. However, he has been twice asked to leave the school for the same reason.

He was lately asked to stop going to the school two months ago, while it is still unclear when he can go back to school.

“I wish I can go to school. However, my parents said they cannot afford my study if I go to private schools,” he wrote in the letter.

Son’s father, Do Van Tuyen, told reporters that his family once lived in Hai Phong City and moved to Hanoi in April 2011.

Tuyen knew that under the current laws, only the students with Hanoi residence books can go to state owned schools. However, he still told the son to enroll in Tran Hung Dao High School, a state owned school in Thanh Xuan district, because he hoped he would enjoy the Hanoi’s citizenship soon.

“We met troubles when following the procedures for the residence book, because the Capital City Law took effect at that moment,” he said.

Nguyen Thi Phuong, Deputy Headmaster of the Tran Hung Dao High School, confirmed that the school’s board of management has asked Son to leave because he could not show the residence book as promised.

Phuong said it was a pity to ask Son to stop going to school, adding that Son was an obedient and good student. However, the school has to respect the current laws, which stipulates that only the students who are the permanent denizens in Hanoi can go to state owned schools.

Phuong went on to say that the school should have refused Phuong when he entered the school and could not show the residence book. However, the school then decided to accept him, because it tried to create most favorable conditions for Phuong to continue his study, after Phuong’s parents promised that they would show all necessary documents later.

In the latest news, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Education Department Nguyen Hiep Thong stated on Dan Viet that every student has the right to go to school, here or there.

Thong said the department would provide further information about the case after it receives the report from the Tran Hung Dao School’s management board. However, he can say for sure that the department will do everything so that the student can go to school again.

However, when asked if Son can go to state owned school, Thong said that the laws must not be broken.

Tien Phong