VietNamNet Bridge – While others are bursting with joy as they have passed the university entrance exams, poor students feel more worried than happy: they now have to think about how to earn money to fund their four-year university study.

Nguyen Thi Chin from Ba Thuoc District of Thanh Hoa province has been informed that she got 17/30 marks from the national university entrance exam.

“I think I can enroll in a state-owned school with 17 marks. I hope my exam result is good enough to be eligible for the Social Work Faculty of the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities. But if not, I think I still can enroll in another state-owned school. The minimum required marks set by some state-owned schools are 14-15 only,” Chin said.

Chin is happy that the university door has opened widely to her, but she also is worried because she is not sure if her parents can afford her study.

“We are a poor household in the commune. We live on the field. My parents are old,” she complained.

“They said they would borrow money from relatives to fund my university study. But I still feel worried,” she said. “Everything is expensive in big cities. When I came to Hanoi a couple of weeks ago to attend the university entrance exam, I spent VND2 million just within several days”.

Good news came to the small house of twins Nguyen Phuong Nam and Nguyen Ngoc Hoa in Phu Xuyen District in Hanoi. Nam scored first on the national entrance exam to the Hanoi Natural Sciences University with 27.5/30 marks. Hoa was the top scorer on the exam for Hanoi Architecture University, with 26 marks.

The twins have been living with grandparents over many years: their mother is far away on business, while their father died three years ago.

“The modest pension the grandparents receive every month is the only source of income of our family,” Hoa said.

“I am afraid that the burden on grandparents would be heavier when we both follow university education. My sister is now also a university student,” he added. “I think I will have to take some extra jobs to earn money to feed myself”.

Tran Van Cuong, the student who had the top score on the entrance exam to the HCM City Technology University is also from a poor family and his father has heart disease and amnesia.

Cuong and the other family members have been living on the rice field and vegetable garden which can only bring modest revenue. His mother has had to mortgage the house they are living in to get money for Cuong’s study.

It appears that these students and their families will not give up their dreams and are determined to attend university at any cost.

Gia Dinh