A student from Can Gao Village in the southern province of Kien Giang’s An Minh District takes an online lesson.

She often waits until the class finishes and then takes him back as it takes her several hours to carry her son – a second grader – to school and back.

Many students and parents can share similar stories because it's not easy for them to get to the school, which is more than 9km from their homes.

Ngo Thi Dieu, another resident, said she would normally ask her neighbours for help but she preferred to take her children to school every day.

“Children are naughty so I feel insecure leaving them with others,” she said.

Nguyen Thanh Cong, secretary of Can Gao Village's Party Committee, said although the number of poor households had fallen gradually over the past few years, the journey to the school had not been getting any easier.

Students are often carried to school by boats, particularly those from subzone 34.

For decades, people here had been dreaming of a concrete road to make it safer for students, he said, adding that there were over 100 children of a school-age living in the subzone.

For second graders, their parents take them to a paved road so they can ride on their bicycles to finish the final 3-5km distance to school.

Cong said the problem was why only four students in the area had been accepted to study at college.

Ngo Thanh Dam, head of Dong Hung B Commune’s Study Promotion Association, said the association always gave priority to students from Can Gao Village, while presenting notebooks or gifts for disadvantaged children, adding that most of their families suffered financial difficulties.

According to Cong, Can Gao is home to 404 households with 1,660 villagers. Of these, 18 are poor and 28 are near-poor households.

Students from Can Gao Village in the southern province of Kien Giang’s An Minh District are ferried to school by boat.

Schooling has become worse since they had to switch online learning due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With no broadband in the area, this posed more problems.

Most of them had to go to their relatives or buy computers, as well as buy 4G sim cards to access the internet, he said.

 “It is quite a burden for the families who can barely make ends meet,” Cong said.

Huynh Kim Khanh, an eighth-grader from Dong Hung B Secondary School, said her parents had bought a smartphone and registered for 4G internet data for VND120,000 (US$5) per month. However, the internet connection was unstable, adding that she had to stay at her grandmother’s house to make it convenient.

Huynh Bao Tran, a second-year student from Tay Do University, said to facilitate her studies, her parents had to borrow money to buy a laptop worth over VND17 million ($720).

Tran Thi Anh Thu, another student from Kien Giang University, said she was worried about her studies.

“Due to the lack of internet connection, I’ve purchased a 4G sim but it’s not good enough for me to learn online,” she said.

Thu said she hoped that an internet connection would be available in the locality soon.

Her desire was shared by Cong, who said it would not only enable students to continue their studies but also help local residents access valuable information which they could apply in production.  VNS

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