Nghe An: Coastal students drop out of school to work as housekeepers

(Baonghean.vn) - On average, each year in Son Hai commune (Quynh Luu), about 40-60 students drop out of school and do not come to class after the summer. Boys drop out to go to the beach, and girls work as maids in Hanoi.

Son Hai Commune is located about 10 km from the district center, the people's lives are mainly based on fishing at sea and some other industries and services. In recent years, this is considered the locality with the highest number of school dropouts in the district.

Visiting each household with children who dropped out of school, we only met 5/40 children who were currently at home, the rest had gone to sea and gone to Hanoi to work as maids.

Among the students who dropped out of school was Nguyen Thi Nga from hamlet 11, an 8th grader at Son Hai Secondary School. When asked why she dropped out, Nga replied: I couldn't study and my family's circumstances were difficult so I dropped out.

Nguyen Thi Nga (8E grade student, Son Hai Secondary School) dropped out of school on February 20, 2016.

It is known that Nga's family has 4 siblings, Nga is the youngest child in the family. Her father and mother died early, so Nga is currently being taken care of by Mr. Nguyen Van Thu (her uncle). Nga is a good student, from grade 1 to grade 7 she was an advanced student. When she entered grade 8, after studying for a while, she suddenly dropped out of school.

“My family encouraged and advised him many times, but he still refused to go to school. Even though the school and social organizations came to his house to advise him, he still did not listen,” Mr. Nguyen Van Thu shared.

It is known that among the 40 junior high school students who dropped out of school in the 2015-2016 school year in Son Hai commune, 26 were female and 14 were male. The female students who dropped out of school have all gone to work as maids in the provinces and cities in the North. For example, Vu Thi Uyen, an 8th grade student (Son Hai Junior High School), went to Hanoi to work as maid at a traditional medicine store more than a week ago.

Although she was a good student for many years, Vu Thi Uyen (grade 8A) dropped out of school due to the trend of dropping out of school to work as a maid with high income. In the photo: Uyen's mother shares Uyen's academic achievements in the past school years.

Ms. Dinh Thi Kim - Uyen's mother said: "Partly because the family's circumstances are difficult, and I'm sick, I let her drop out of school. When I heard she would go to Hanoi to work as a housekeeper with a salary of 3 million VND/month, I thought she wouldn't have anything to do at home, so I looked into the specific job there before letting her go."

As for the male students, after dropping out of school for a while, they follow fishermen to catch seafood at sea. If they are lucky, the seafaring profession will bring high income, so they themselves think: going to sea to earn money faster than studying. Therefore, dropping out of school to go to sea has become a "trend" for male students in this coastal area.

From 2011 to 2016, in Son Hai commune, there were 287 students dropping out of school. This situation mainly occurred at the junior high school level, especially the number of students dropping out of school was concentrated in grades 8 and 9.

Many seats in class 9G of Son Hai Secondary School are empty because students have dropped out of school.

Mr. Hoang Son - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Son Hai Commune, Quynh Luu District added: "Currently, the situation of students dropping out of school in Son Hai is very complicated. Most female students drop out of school to work as housekeepers, while male students follow the fishing profession. Therefore, the People's Committee of the commune also works with the border guard station to inspect boats. If minors under 15 years old are found going to sea, measures must be taken immediately to prevent them. For students who drop out of school to work as housekeepers far from home, the first thing to do is to propagate through the parents' association, departments, socio-political organizations... so that parents understand that forcing their children to work as housekeepers is a violation of labor laws. Parents who raise children must educate them, not leave it to society.

In addition, the commune also assigned the unions to coordinate with the Party cell committee to review, inspect, and promptly remind cases of abandonment and cases at risk of abandonment.

Viet Hung