VietNamNet Bridge – More and more poor students stop going to school after their finish secondary education. Others continue studying at high schools, but they are thought to drop out sooner or later.

In the 2011-2012 academic year, the Binh Khanh High School’s management board in HCM City was informed that 50 students dropped out. The Can Thanh and An Nghia High Schools also reported the higher numbers of drop outs.

The new academic year 2012-2013 was kicked off one week ago already. However, only 314 out of the 340 10th graders have turned up so far.

According to Le Huu Han, Headmaster of the Can Thanh High School, other students in HCM City would feel jealous of the students of the Can Thanh School, because all the local students have been accepted to follow the high school study at the state owned school.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the city, students have to compete with each other to obtain the seats at state owned schools. However, ironically, the happy students disdain going to the school.

The number of high school drop outs in Can Gio district is always higher than that in other districts. Especially, the percentage of drop outs has been increasing year after year.

Phan Thi My Linh, Headmaster of the Binh Khanh High School, said in the 2011-2012 academic year, 50 out of the 800 students gave up school, mostly 10th graders.

Can Thanh had 50 students giving up school in the 2011-2012 academic year. Six percent of An Nghia School’s student dropped out in the year, while the figure was 4.8 percent in the 2010-2011 academic year. Like Binh Khanh School, the students of the two schools have also given up school are mostly 10th graders.

Han said that the school has applied a lot of measures to persuade students to return to school after the summer holiday and encourage poor students continue education. However, despite the great efforts, the number of drop outs still keeps rising.

No one can be sure that those students, who have returned to school after the summer holiday, would continue their education until they finish high school. Han said that a lot of secondary school graduates with weak learning capability still have been allowed to pass to high school.

Therefore, the students may feel tired of learning when they go to high school, and they may refuse to go to school in some months, or after the first semester.

He went on to say that it is necessary to draw up a reasonable student allotment program designed for secondary school graduates. Those students, who have learning capability and really want to continue studying, would go to high school. Meanwhile, those with bad learning capacity should go to vocational schools, where they can get the skills necessary for them to find jobs.

Ngo Tan Hung, Headmaster of the An Nghia High School, said that 51 percent of families in Can Gio district are poor families, which cannot take care well for their children’s education. Only the students with good learning capability, who want to escape the poverty, would be patient for learning. Meanwhile, other students, who feel tired of studying, would drop out, sooner or later.

At present, students have to go far to the inner city to attend training courses at vocational schools, while there is no vocational school in Can Gio district.

Therefore, Duong Van Thu, Head of the Can Gio district education sub-department said a local vocational school should be set up there which provides skills in aquaculture, a very popular career in the locality.

Compiled by Mai Chi