VietNamNet Bridge – Despite the big budgets and the heavy investment, Vietnam’s education still churns out many error products.

The 9th grader could not solve the math question

The term “sitting in wrong classes” has become more popular recently, used to talk about the students who do not have the knowledge the students of certain grades need to have.

The first students sitting in wrong classes were found in 2007. After that, a series of drastic measures have been taken to settle the problem. However, no considerable improvement has been made so far.

In early March 2013, after the first semester exams, An Lao district in Binh Dinh province discovered 78 primary and secondary school students who did not have basic knowledge. Especially, according to Nguoi Lao Dong, 66 students on the 8th and 9th grades were not proficient in four basic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, while 12 third graders were found as unable to spell words.

Dan Tri has reported that a lot of students of a secondary school in Kon Tum province cannot do the division operation.

AT, a 9th grader, who has been granted the title of “good student” over the last 8 years, when asked to solve a math question, gave 4 different answers to the question: 1.025/35=27; 29.34; 272; 27.4. Finally, he decided to give up, saying that the question was too difficult for him.

T, who is in the last grade of secondary school, said the learning subjects of physics or geometry seem to be unfamiliar to them. Meanwhile, in Vietnam, these are the compulsory subjects for secondary education.

In fact, T does not think he needs to try to learn hard, because he has decided to stop learning after he finishes the 9th grade.

“My parents said they don’t have money to send me to the district’s school to continue study. I will not going to school any more and I will go working,” T said.

YX, a student of the Dak Koi Primary School, after a lot of exertion, gave the answer to the math question: 205/15 = 1,528. It’s quite a surprise that YX has been listed among the good students in the class. X seems to be happier than her friends in the same class, where 17 students still cannot read fluently.

Truong Chi Tuyen, Deputy Headmaster of the Dak Koi Secondary day-boarding School, while admitting that 3 students in classes 6A and 6B still cannot read, and that many students still cannot do the division operation, still said that the students are eligible for moving up to the next grades if referring to the Ministry of Education and Training’s Circular No. 58.

It’s not a surprise to the local people why there are so many students sitting in wrong classes or giving up school.

Nguyen Thien, Head of the Education sub-department of Kon Ray district in Kon Tum province, said most of the students here are from poor families, who have to spend their time on working on rice fields to earn their living. Therefore, they don’t have time on learning and they don’t want to go to school.

Thien also said that the problems of the curriculums have put big difficulties on the schools in remote and mountainous areas.

The students there have to follow the common curriculums like the students in urban areas. While they still cannot read and write Vietnamese fluently, they have to have English lessons as well

Compiled by C. V