VietNamNet Bridge – The race for “star” primary schools has kicked off, even though the 2013-2014 academic year is not yet over.

Under Vietnam’s primary education universalization policy, all children can obtain a primary education free of charge at state-owned schools. However, many Vietnamese parents are not satisfied with the seats at the schools reserved for their children. They want their children to attend star schools, which have better educational standards and better material facilities.

With more and more parents eyeing star schools, the competition among them has grown fiercer. Vo Ngoc Thu, Head of District 5’s Education and Training Sub-department in HCM City, said many parents have asked her about the procedures for applying to star schools.

Mai Lan, a mother in District 5, said in principle, her daughter would go to the Tran Quoc Toan Primary School, located in that district. However, as Lan’s office is located in District 1, she prefers to send the girl to a school near there, for easier logistics.  This is also a “star” school.

Minh Quang, a parent in District 7, does not want his son going to La Van Tam Primary School as require>, because the school is too small and its facilities too run down. Quang swears that he will secure a seat for his son at Luong The Vinh Primary School for his child, no matter how much it costs him.

Analysts have stated that Vietnamese parents now tend to be more fastidious  when choosing schools for their children.

It’s the fervent wish of many parents today to send their children to schools where they can study English with native English speakers. In such cases, getting a child into Le Ngoc Han, Nguyen Binh Khiem or Dinh Tien Hoang in District 1, Minh Dao or Chinh Nghia in District 5, or Nguyen Van Troi School in District 4 is the ultimate goal.

Meanwhile, Dinh Thien Can, Head of the District 1 Education and Training Sub-department, rejects any suggestions of a gap in the quality of different schools’ educational offerings. He insists that the school network is programmed in a reasonable way, one which ensures that every child can go to school.

“Parents want to send their children to school A or school B just for personal reasons,” he maintained. “The state-owned schools all receive the equitable shares of the state budget. I can say for certain that there is no difference in the teachers’ qualifications”.

Thu, the District 5 education official, said controls over schools’ enrollments would be tightened this year. That’s because her sub-department is well aware of the stiff competition for star schools, and anticipates back door efforts by parents to secure spots.

As one measure, schools have been told not to admit students from outside their districts. Meetings will be organized to help parents learn more about the schools their children are assigned to.

Thu also said she does not think there is a big gap between schools in the qualifications of teachers.

“Parents want to send their children to star schools just because of their appearance. They just want to be able to show off that their children are going to prominent schools,” she commented.

NLD