Many different reasons have been cited to explain why 1,163 university students had reportedly dropped out so far this year, according to official statistics. However, the biggest reason was the overly high tuitions unaffordable to poor students.

High tuition fee is a burden for poor students

Phung Cam Chi, a student of the Viet Tri Technique Junior College, from Van Yen town of Yen Bai province, said that coming from a poor family in remote area, therefore, she can enjoy the tuition exemption as stipulated in the current policies.

“However, I still have to pay tuitions in the last four years. My parents in the home village have to borrow money in the black market at exorbitant high interest rates,” she said.

“The debts have become so big that I may have to stop studying to go looking for jobs,” she continued.

Le Thi Tam, the mother of Chi, explained that in previous years, the poor students in the locality did not have to pay tuitions for university education. However, under the new regulations, students still have to pay tuitions to the schools and get reimbursement from the local authorities.

“We still have not received money from the local sub-department of labor, war invalids and social affairs over the last two years. As a result, we have to borrow money to pay tuition and become more and more penurious,” she said.

Though universities and junior colleges have to make public the tuitions for their training majors, a lot of schools deliberately ignore the regulations. As a result, a lot of poor students accidentally registered to study at the schools which required high tuitions. 

The students had no other choice than continuing studying at the schools and moving heaven and earth to get money to fund their study. However, just after a short time of studying at the schools, a lot of students had to drop out because they cannot afford the overly high tuitions.

Do Xuan Truong, who was a student of the Thang Long University, said that the school has required higher tuitions this year, which has forced him to stop studying.

“I would return to the home village and help parents breed pigs and fowls. For the time being, I would learn hard to prepare for the university entrance exam once again. If I pass the exams to a state owned school, I would be able to follow university education with the lower tuitions,” he said.

Vietnamese students never give up

Despite the big difficulties, a lot of students still have been trying to live and study in the big cities, where everything is getting more and more expensive. 

Nguyen Thi Nhung, a student of the Dai Nam University in Hanoi, said she needs to become independent, because she does not want to put a too heavy burden on the parents.

“I borrowed money from the student support fund to open a tea shop. I can pay debt after two months, and now I can earn VND100,000 a day which is enough to pay tuitions,” Nhung said.

Meanwhile, Tuan Nghia and Duy Nam from the Transport University have been earning their living by trading underwear and computer parts which they sell to the students at the dormitories of other schools in Hanoi.

“We both can earn VND1.5-2 million (USD71-96) a month. The business can lift our worries about the tuitions,” Nghia said.