6th and 7th graders are preparing to drop out of school to get married.

(Baonghean) - Becoming a wife and mother before the age of 18 and the custom of early marriage are no longer rare in remote villages of the mountainous district of Ky Son. Moreover, the number of young marriages is increasing among students still in school...

In class 9B, Muong Long Ethnic Boarding Secondary School (Ky Son), in just the first few months of the 2016-2017 school year, four female students “left the game to follow their husbands”. Of these, three students, Va I Ai, Cu I Ra, and Va I Pa, are all from Long Keo village and got married in October. The remaining student, Cu I Xi (Mo Nu village), got married just a few days after the start of school. After getting married, Xi went to extra classes for two or three days and then quit.

As a homeroom teacher, every time a student invites her to a wedding, no matter how far away, teacher Vi Thi Sam tries to arrange to attend. Other people often go to weddings with many emotions, but before going, her biggest wish is to meet the parents of the students to talk, hoping to "persuade the students to come to school".

Saying this, teacher Vi Thi Sam could not hide her sadness because: Female students who get married and want to go to school have to depend on their husband's family. But here, studying is not taken care of, "you marry them and bring them to my house, I will give them work".

Newly married students at Ky Son High School

Having worked as a teacher in a remote area with a large Mong population for many years, teacher Vi Thi Sam and the teachers at Muong Long Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities are no longer surprised when students drop out of school to get married.

Teachers themselves also confirmed that students in mountainous areas drop out of school for many reasons, but the most difficult thing is to persuade married students to return to school after getting married. The main reason is that female Mong students often marry far from home, and have to travel a long way to get to school.

Moreover, after getting married, they have to give birth and take care of their families in a short time, so they don’t have the mind to pay attention to studying. As for the school, although child marriage has been regularly publicized, the effect is not worth mentioning.

Even at the Youth Union Congress at the beginning of the year, many teachers asked students to “swear”: “Not to get married after finishing grade 12”, but most students did not dare to promise. Or there were cases where they “swear” but only stopped at “not to get married after finishing grade 9”.

Cu I Rua's small stall in Huoi Tu commune (Ky Son).

As in Huoi Tu Ethnic Boarding Secondary School, the first semester of the 2016-2017 school year has not yet ended but many teenagers have already got married. Meeting Cu I Rua in Nga Ba village (Huoi Tu commune), she said: There are 6 sisters in the family, she is the youngest and the one who got married the latest even though she is only 15 years old this year.

Among the sisters, Rua is also quite lucky because after getting married, she does not have to stay at home and work in the fields, but both families have created conditions for her to open a small grocery store and is waiting for her first child to be born. Teacher Nguyen Thi Hoa, a teacher at the school, added: It is impossible to prohibit children from getting married because it is easy to love and marry here. Many children, when they hear the teacher's advice, threaten to commit suicide.

Also due to early marriage and childbirth, most of these weddings are “underground” weddings, without a marriage registration certificate. Children are born and only when they reach school age do their families issue birth certificates. Speaking more about this, Mr. Va Cha Xa - Vice Chairman of Muong Long commune also said: Currently, the rate of early marriage in Muong Long commune is about 5% - 10% and the age of marriage is often very early. Most of these young families have difficult lives due to lack of knowledge and understanding to take care of their family life.

Ly I Do, a 12th grade student at Ky Son 1 High School, is a good student in her class, having been an excellent student for many consecutive years. With a lovely face, Ly I Do also once dreamed of taking the entrance exam to the preschool department to become a teacher if Do had not unexpectedly gotten married in the summer of 11th grade. Talking to her, she honestly said: we had been in love for a year when both families told us to get married. She also felt that she was at the right age because where she lived, all the girls got married early...

Do's husband is also from the same commune, this year he is in his final year at Hanoi Medical University. After getting married, because his family was well off, Do was given the opportunity to continue moving to town, rent a house to finish high school. With good academic performance, her husband also encouraged Do to continue studying to get a university or college degree, but Do said: I will not continue studying. After finishing school, I will return to my hometown and give birth to a child for my husband because I am not young anymore...

Like Do, Vu Mai Co is a prominent member of the Executive Committee of Ky Son High School Youth Union. Co got married in the summer of 10th grade, her husband worked in the Security sector, so after getting married, Co was given the opportunity to go to school. Moreover, last November, Co was also selected by the district to attend the Mong ethnic cultural festival in Son La province and won second prize in the ethnic cultural beauty contest. The future is promising, but she herself does not know if she can continue her studies or not because she is still responsible for her family...

Every year, Ky Son High School has 80-100 students dropping out of school. Since the beginning of the school year, there have been about 20 cases, many of which have dropped out to get married. Teacher Tran Thanh Van - Vice Principal of the school said: At the age of high school, because the students are adults, many families still create conditions for them to go to school. But the number of students continuing to study is not much. Besides, there are many cases of students only studying for a few months and then dropping out again. What is special is that not only female students drop out of school to get married, but male students are also not rare.

Reality also shows that at high school age, most students have a certain awareness and understanding of the provisions of the Law on Marriage and Family as well as the consequences of early marriage. However, the situation of early marriage still occurs and there is no positive solution to limit it. The prolonged situation is also an alarm about gender inequality, poverty, domestic violence... and furthermore, it affects the development of the next generation of children when they lack adequate care and preparation from their parents.

My Ha