The hard life of the gifted student in Vietnam

Saigon Tiep Thi newspaper’s reporter arrived at Le Hong Phong Gifted School in HCM City during recess and he saw some students gathering in discussion groups in the school yard. He saw others reading documents on the notice board. A lot of students stayed in the classrooms to study. They did not take time to relax or eat.

Learning to live malnourished

In the school clinic, the reporter saw four students there with stomachaches and headaches.

Dr Nguyen Thi Hoang Oanh, the chief health care worker, said that some 80-100 students go there for medical examination every month. Many of them have headaches because they sleep only a few hours or go to bed late at night. Others suffer from digestive problems because they do not eat meals regularly.

“All the diseases come from the fact that the students study too hard and they do not have time for relaxing, for sleeping and for eating,” Oanh commented.

“Many students even lose consciousness because of studying too hard,” she added.

Students of Le Hong Phong School related that most of their time is spent on learning at school, learning at home and learning in extra classes.

Take for instance Vo Thi Thanh Van, a 12th grade student. His schedule is as follows: waking at 5 am, learning lessons, having breakfast and then going to school, lessons in the afternoon, returning home and going to extra classes until 9 pm, returning and learning again until 11 pm.

“If I have too many exercises to do, I can only go to bed at midnight and then get up at 4 the next morning,” Van explained

Oanh related that these students are malnourished from overworking. “Many of them admitted that they studied until two or three o’clock,” she remarked.

Tension headaches

At Tran Dai Nghia Gifted School in HCM City, after passing the school entrance exams, students can register to study in the classes they want. This does not mean that they will be able to study at the school for all three years. When a school year finishes, students have to sit year-end exams which decide if they can remain. If they do not pass, they will be forced to move to other schools

Of course, no one wants to leave gifted schools. Therefore, they have to study hard, day and night, to obtain high achievements and to stay in the school.

“I am afraid I will go mad someday because of overworking,” admitted a 12th grade student, who related that he once heard stories about students who went crazy from studying too hard.

The headmaster of a gifted school revealed that he keeps some papers of an 11th grade student who suffered delusions.

The student believed he was the chairman of a big group from Singapore. He sent papers to the headmaster, which he called “shares,” and invited the headmaster to contribute capital.

Another student of the school also attempted to commit suicide, but he luckily was rescued.