Educators in the Mekong Delta region are scrambling to find the ways to encourage students to stay in school.

Truancy a pressing issue in Mekong Delta region

According the Ministry of Education and Training’s latest statistics, the national rate of students quitting school during the first term of the 2010-2011 school year was 0.43%. In the Mekong delta, however, the rate was 0.75%. This was followed by the central highlands, which had a dropout rate of 0.71%.

Disappointing attendance figures

To Minh Gioi, an official from Steering Committee for the south-west, said at a recent seminar on education in the Mekong Delta region, “Despite improvements in education, the number of students choosing not to attend class remains high. This is a major issue, not only for the education system, but also for local governments and communities."

Gioi attributed the situation to a lack of awareness among students of the benefits of education, as well as an attraction for online games. According to him, this habit of skipping class often leads to abandoning education altogether.

He added that families must take an active role in making sure their children receive a good education.

Another problem, according to Thai Van Long, Director of Ca Mau Provincial Department of Education, is that many students come from families that cannot afford tuition fees. Some, he said, even find the journey to class difficult because of poor transportation infrastructure.

Long noted that 37,500 students in Ca Mau have to travel by boat to schools each day. Around 14,000 of those have difficulties paying the ferry boat fees, which can add up to between VND45,000 and VND200,000 (USD2.1-USD9.5) per month.

"The problem seems to be concentrated in the secondary schools," said Ho Van Thong, Director of Dong Thap Provincial Department of Education and Traning. He added that, "Schools have not done enough to find out the root cause, a necessary step to remedying the problem."

Solutions

Thong suggested that the curriculum should be improved in order to make class time more engaging.

In the meanwhile, Thai Van Long, from Ca Mau, said that financial support for poor students would also help.

According to Long, as of December 31, 2010, the provincial Fatherland Front had raised over VND20.3 billion (USD966,160) to help poor students pay ferry fees.

To Minh Gioi, however, emphasised the role of head teachers, who, he said, should focus on finding out the underlying causes.

Source: Dtinews