VNS
August 03,2008

HA NOI — The Education and Training Ministry’s tightening of academic standards has sparked a dramatic increase in the numbers of children abandoning junior and secondary high schools.

The ministry reports that almost 114,000 students throughout the country had dropped out by the end of last year – midway through the 2007-2008 academic year.

The number is 1.25 per cent of all students for this academic year, which is 1.5 times higher than the previous academic year.

The total included 64,000 senior secondary students and more than 50,000 junior secondary students.

The Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta had the highest number of dropouts with 45,000 and southern An Giang topped the provincial list with 17,000.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Vinh Hien said that the higher drop-out rate stemmed from the ministry’s policies of tightening educational quality, including its "two nos" campaign launched in 2006.

This was to say no to cheating and no to extra off-campus studies.

"The ministry understood that there would be many students who would drop out of school when it started the "two nos" campaign," the deputy minister said.

For example, the direct reason for the sharp increase in the number of students to drop out in Central Highland Lam Dong Province had been their inability to match the curriculum, especially at the beginning of senior secondary school.

The deputy minister said the ministry would now devise solutions to cope with the consequence.

"The ministry will ask provinces with high numbers of dropouts to keep schools open during the forthcoming summer holidays."

It would also provide financial support to teachers while localities and schools must find ways to persuade the children to return to class.

A ministry official has proposed that junior secondary school require the dropout to undertake informal education or participate in a model that combines both informal education and vocational training.

The deputy minister said poverty and natural disaster had added to the number of dropouts.

Central Quang Ngai Province’s Son Bao Junior Secondary School principal Vo Van Tung said most of the 100 of his 266 students who dropped out had done so to help with the harvest and work on farms because of family financial difficulties.

Most of the dropouts lived in remote highlands where they had to walk 10km and more to school.

Viet Nam had 9.3 million junior and senior secondary students at the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year.