Around the fence of Tuong Duong 1 High School (Thach Giam town, Tuong Duong district) are many rows of boarding houses, food and beverage shops of the people. It is not too difficult to understand, because where there is supply, there is demand. At this school, every year there are always 600 - 700 students needing accommodation to pursue their studies. The school no longer implements a boarding policy, it is very good that people build boarding houses for students to rent. However, when entering many boarding houses, what you see is not really a house. Most of them are small, narrow rooms built temporarily, or assembled with cheap materials; the restrooms are shared and very dirty.
On the morning of September 14, 2023, we stopped by a number of such boarding houses. At 9am, when the students were studying at school, many of the rooms were unlocked, only half-closed, or even wide open, empty. In each room were a few beds, a wooden bed, even a few pieces of mat spread on a shabby concrete floor with dirty, messy blankets, and a few steel wires crisscrossed horizontally and vertically to hang a few old, crumpled clothes. Also in those boarding rooms, one could imagine the children here not cooking for themselves, and also lacking books and school supplies.
In a row of rented rooms just a few dozen meters from the school fence, scattered with many instant noodle and cigarette packets, we discovered a group of truant students consisting of 4 dark-skinned children with messy hair. Seeing adults, including a teacher, coming in, they jumped out of bed, hurriedly dressed, and stared with tired, sleepy eyes, afraid. “What grade are you in? Who is your homeroom teacher? Why aren’t you in class yet?…” – a teacher asked. The 4 children were silent for a while, then the oldest named Xeo Hai Dang mumbled: “I’m in 10th grade… I woke up at 7:30 so I didn’t go to class…” Then the 4 children quietly pulled each other out of the room.
Holding the third grader named Cut Minh Ty, who was as tall as a lowland child, and asking further, Ty said that all four of them were from Coi village, Luong Minh commune. Last night, they fell asleep because they watched movies and played games late at night. Pointing at the cigarette butts scattered all over the floor, he asked: You are so young, why do you smoke? Cut Minh Ty replied: “Those guys smoke, not me…”.
Waiting for Cut Minh Ty to leave the rented room, the teachers who went with him shook their heads sadly and said that this is a fairly common situation for students in remote areas who have to rent a house to study. Most of their parents work for a "company" to make a living, and the only people at home are grandparents, so when they rent a house, they almost completely lose the attention of their family. "Their parents only rent a house, and every month they send them a few hundred thousand dong to pay for the rent and food, and leave the rest to themselves. Therefore, the school teachers often have to "look for" students in the first hours of the day. The boy just now had yellow teeth and dark lips, which showed that he also smoked. If the owner of the house lives with them, it's still better. But in this house, the owner doesn't live with them, the children manage themselves and do whatever they want. They smoke, play games all night long, and some even gather to drink alcohol..." - a teacher said.
Going up to Muong Xen town of Ky Son border district, we came to the only high school located along the Nam Mo river. The school has a very beautiful campus with a 126-room dormitory, welcoming 728 students in the 2023-2024 school year. However, there is still an equivalent number of students renting in boarding houses built by local people outside the school fence.
And the boarding houses and living conditions of high school students in the border district of Ky Son are also makeshift, similar to Tuong Duong district. With the price of 200,000 VND/month/student, a small, cramped room with a lack of furniture can accommodate 2-4 students. Hoa Thi Lan Anh is a 10th grade student and her friend is staying in such a boarding house of a teacher's family at Ky Son High School. Hoa Thi Lan Anh and her friend are both from Huoi Phong village, Muong Ai commune, Ky Son district. When asked, it was learned that each month they pay 300,000 VND/student for rent. They cook for themselves. Whoever comes home first cooks, and on days when both of them study 5 periods, they don't get to eat lunch until 1:00 pm. Looking at the kitchen stove in the room, the hardship of students from remote areas is obvious. On the table where the stove is placed, there are only a few wilted mustard greens, a few chili peppers, seasoning powder... Ask why you don't want to stay in the boarding house? Do you want to stay in the boarding house? Hoa Thi Lan Anh answered softly: “Because I don’t know anyone in school. Maybe I can apply to stay next year…”.
Opposite Ky Son High School, there is a whole boarding house neighborhood where the guests are mostly students from remote areas and teachers from border communes. Ms. NT D, a teacher in the border commune of Nam Can, said that the general situation of the "boarding house neighborhood" is quite complicated. "In general, students from remote areas who come here to board and study have difficulties in all aspects. Female students are still conscious, but male students are very complicated. Every night they gather to drink all night long, are noisy and disorderly, and refuse to study. As a teacher, I really hope that the students can go to boarding school to be managed by teachers, to be tutored in their studies, and to ensure security and order..."
In the two mountainous districts of Quy Chau and Que Phong, there are currently about 2,000 students from remote areas who leave their homes to rent rooms in town to attend high school. We cannot help but be haunted by the images of students removing tiles and escaping from roofs to avoid floods. These images flooded newspapers and social networks on September 27, when Quy Chau district suffered a historic flood. It was haunting because we knew that these students lived in a boarding house in Tan Lac town, where we had visited at 7 p.m. on September 21. That was a boarding house with 10 rooms owned by Ms. Nguyen Thi Vinh (79 years old) in group 2, block 4, Tan Lac town.
Regarding Mrs. Vinh's boarding house, which shares a yard with her family's residence, it is also shabby and old, but the good point is that it is quite clean and the landlord is very responsible with the students staying there.
Formerly a staff member of Quy Chau Hospital, Ms. Vinh is proud that for 35 years she has been renting out rooms, this is the first room for Quy Chau High School in Tan Lac town. Regarding room rates, over time they have increased from 5,000, 10,000, 15,000 to 20,000 VND/room, and now follow the market price. She said: “The students currently staying here are also the children of those who used to stay here. We have taken the money but also feel sorry for their parents so we have to manage everything from hygiene to movement. The gate will close at 8:30 pm at the latest. The rules were agreed upon from the beginning, when the children and their parents came to rent the room. First is about security and order, second is no going out late at night, third is no boys and girls, fourth is to ensure public hygiene. If you comply, you stay, if you do not comply, you withdraw right from the beginning…” – Ms. Vinh said.
But responsible landlords like Ms. Nguyen Thi Vinh, as Vice Principal of Quy Chau High School said, are “as rare as morning stars”. In fact, some boarding houses near Ms. Vinh’s house are built separately, with no entrance gate.
At a boarding house near Mrs. Vinh's house, when we arrived, the children were starting to prepare dinner. Vang Tuan Khanh, a 12th grade student at Quy Chau High School, had a little boiled cabbage and some fish sauce for his meal. With 3 years of experience in boarding, Khanh said he lives in Chau Hoan commune, 45km from the school. His parents are farmers, and Khanh has a younger sibling in 6th grade. Khanh lives with another friend, and the two of them take turns cooking every day.
Next to Khanh's room is Lo Nghia Hau's room, also in Chau Hoan commune. Hau was slicing onions while wiping her eyes. Hau was stir-frying onions with 2 duck eggs. Hau said the eggs cost 3,500 VND each. "Every week, my parents give me 250-300 thousand VND. Every 10th of the month, I pay the rent to the landlord. Every day, we come home from school and take turns cooking rice and preparing vegetables. Eating out doesn't pay enough and I get hungry quickly..." Then Hau reached for a towel to wipe his eyes, smiling gently: "Boys only cry when cutting onions, uncle...".
Also here, Vi Thi Luyen, a 12th grade student, is staying to study. Luyen's house is in Chau Hoan commune. She said that after dinner, she has to lock the door and lock herself in her room. The reason is that at night, young men often come to disturb her. "Just last night, I was in my room when two young men suddenly rushed in, which scared me. I think if the school had a dormitory, there would be no security issues, and it would be more convenient for studying..." - Vi Thi Luyen said.
A middle school teacher whose house is near the boarding house where Vi Thi Luyen is staying confirmed that there is harassment of female students. The teacher said: “There are many worrying problems for boarding students. Female students are being teased, harassed, and enticed by unknown young men. Male students gather to drink alcohol, stay up all night playing games and refuse to study. Some students are even lured into social evils by bad guys. The government, school, police, militia, etc. also coordinate to manage but cannot keep a close watch.” When asked for her name, this teacher refused, because she was afraid of causing trouble with her neighbors.
Indeed, there have been unfortunate incidents involving students at Quy Chau High School. Specifically, in the 2021-2022 school year, the school had 4 students who violated the law by getting involved in drug abuse. The case was brought to trial in 2022, in which 3 students were sentenced to 5-7 years in prison, and one student was sentenced to 10 months of non-custodial reform. When asked, some teachers at Quy Chau High School said that all 4 of these students came from remote areas to rent a house to study in town. And the teachers exclaimed: "If the students had been well managed and did not have to fend for themselves after their time at school, they would not have ended up in this situation. They are blameworthy, but also somewhat pitiful...".
