Lesson 1: Students Dropping Out of School - What Are the Causes?

(Baonghean)The goals set out in the Resolution of the 17th Congress of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee clearly state: striving to ensure that by 2015, 99.5% of primary school-aged children attend school; 75% of young people of school age achieve a high school education or equivalent; and the completion rate at all three levels of education is maintained at 90% or higher... However, a reality that still occurs every year is that many students drop out of school, especially after the summer and Tet holidays.

The situation is alarming...

The 2011-2012 school year has been underway for over a month, but the atmosphere at school in Son Hai commune, Quynh Luu district, remains less than cheerful. This is because, for many years, Son Hai has been the coastal commune with the highest dropout rate in Quynh Luu district, and this year is no exception. As of now, at Son Hai Secondary School, 25 students from grades 8 and 9 have yet to return to school after going out to fish with their older brothers, fathers, or boat owners.

Regarding these 25 students, the Principal of Son Hai Secondary School is also unsure whether they will return to school. Mr. Ho Dinh Sang, the Principal of Son Hai Secondary School, stated: "At the beginning of the school year, the Principal coordinated with the local authorities to encourage families whose children work on fishing boats to return to school. We also worked with the Border Guard Post to prevent underage children from going out to sea."

Poverty and hunger have plagued many students in coastal areas, forcing them to abandon their education early to pursue livelihoods at sea. Every year, various levels of government in Quynh Luu district actively campaign to encourage coastal students to attend school, but it typically takes more than a month after the start of the school year to persuade them to return. However, by Tet (Lunar New Year) and around the middle of the year after the first semester exams, many students drop out again due to poor academic performance and difficult family circumstances. In the 2010-2011 school year, Quynh Luu district had 234 students drop out. At the beginning of this school year, nearly 200 students in the entire district had not returned to school after the summer break. These dropouts are concentrated in the communes of Son Hai, An Hoa, Quynh Vinh, Quynh Lap, Quynh Tan, Quynh Xuan, and Tien Thuy, with each commune having between 15 and 25 students.

Photo: Thu Huong

As of August 24, 2011 (two weeks after the start of the school year), nearly 800 students in Nghe An province had not returned to school after the summer break. Specifically, there were 22 primary school students, concentrated mainly in Ky Son district (14), Thanh Chuong (5), Quy Hop (1), and Nghi Loc (2); 416 secondary school students, mainly concentrated in Quynh Luu, Nghi Loc, and Tuong Duong; and 348 high school students, mainly concentrated in mountainous schools (Tan Ky 3, Tuong Duong 2, Anh Son 3) and private schools (Le Doan Nha, Bac Quynh Luu, Ly Tu Trong, Ngo Tri Hoa). Among these, 283 were female students and 226 were ethnic minority students. The main reasons for students not returning to school after the summer break were poor academic performance (681), difficult family circumstances (420), long commutes to school (128), and other reasons (90).

It can be seen that the number of students who have not returned to school after the summer break this year has stabilized and decreased significantly compared to previous years. However, these results are not sustainable, and regardless of the region, the dropout rate depends on the students' own learning attitudes, as well as their families' support, the attention of the school, the local community, and society as a whole. The current high dropout rate is unacceptable and requires a clear identification of the causes and the implementation of solutions.

Obstacles that prevent one from going to school.

In coastal and mountainous districts, most students drop out of school due to difficult family economic circumstances. Older students have to go into the forest to clear land for farming to help their families, while elementary and preschool students are left without care at home and are forced to follow their parents to the fields. A typical example is Kim Hong village (Ngoc Lam commune, Thanh Chuong district), where the difficulties in stabilizing their lives and developing their household economy have led many to return to Tuong Duong. As a result, this school year, 28 students from the village dropped out of school to follow their parents out of the area.

Students in mountainous districts such as Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, Quy Chau, and Que Phong... have to travel long, treacherous stretches of forest to get to school. This is also a reason why many students drop out. Students in Keng Du commune, a border area in Ky Son district, have to travel over 20 km of mountain passes to reach their classes. Keng Du Secondary School has a boarding facility, but the number of rooms is limited, so it can only accommodate students from the three furthest villages. To be on time for afternoon classes at 1:30 PM, students in Keng Du have to leave at 9:30 AM; those who have morning classes have to leave at 4:00 AM. The journey to school is so arduous that their literacy skills diminish... Similarly, in Tuong Duong district, some students who want to attend high school have to go to Hoa Binh town, hundreds of kilometers from their villages. In some places, traveling by boat along the Nam Non River from home to school takes two days, such as in Nhon Mai, Mai Son, and Luan Mai. And in Con Cuong district, students from Don Phuc and Thach Ngan communes have to spend an entire day climbing mountains, crossing streams, and rowing boats to get to school...

Mr. Phan Anh Tài, Head of the Education and Training Department of Con Cuong District, said: "In previous years, many Dan Lai ethnic minority students in Con Cuong dropped out of school after the summer break. The reason was that students from remote areas who came to study had no place to stay, had to live with local people, and had to provide for their own food and other needs. These things created a fear of going to school far away. The government has issued Circular 24 on building boarding schools - this is a good policy. However, the problem is that Decree 85, which specifically implements the circular, stipulates a percentage of students required to build boarding schools, and Con Cuong and many other districts do not meet this percentage (it must have over 50% ethnic minority students and no more than 10% Kinh students - who cannot go home daily and need boarding facilities)."

Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam, Head of the Education and Training Department of Thanh Chuong District, stated: "In the lowlands and urban areas, the majority of students drop out due to weak academic performance. The reason is that the education sector lacks standardized curriculum and assessment methods, and flexible teaching methods for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, especially... The uneven quality of entry-level students is also related to dropout rates. Students who lack the basic knowledge to study at higher levels but still pass exams for some reason cannot keep up with the new curriculum, leading to discouragement and dropping out due to feelings of shame and embarrassment." Mr. Bui Minh Tuan, a teacher at Kim Lien High School in Nam Dan District, raised the issue of schools and teachers not being proactive enough: The professional competence and sense of responsibility of some teachers, especially homeroom teachers, are not high enough. The collaboration between homeroom teachers and parent associations in educating weak and problematic students is still limited. The current practice of classifying students within classes to plan remedial classes, organize tutoring, and provide support for weak students in schools is not very proactive. Meanwhile, this requires a great deal of effort, perseverance, and dedication from those involved...

There are many reasons why students drop out of school, but the main ones are the students' own learning attitudes, the level of attention to their education from their families, and the local community where they live.

Thao Nhi - Thanh Chung