VietNamNet Bridge – The primary schools in Hanoi will only start receiving study applications in July. However, sources said the list of first graders for the 2013-2014 academic year has been fixed already.

The seats at star schools as expensive as gold

“I have been told that it’s too late to begin angling for the seats at star schools, because everything has been done,” a parent said.

The students who begin going to school this year are called the “golden pigs,” or those, who were born in 2007, the year of the golden pigs in accordance with the lunar year.

Since Vietnamese parents all wish to have their children born in the year of golden pigs, the number of children born in the year was abnormally high. Right in 2007, experts gave warning about the overloading of the primary schools, when the golden pigs enter the first grade.

Meanwhile, the parents in urban areas all want to bring their children to star schools, which they believe can provide good teachers and good schooling environment. As the number of star schools is limited, parents have to compete fiercely with each other to scramble for the seats there.

T, an office worker, said that there are two ways to follow to obtain the seats at the schools. If someone has close relations with the district people’s committees’ leaders, he would have some tens of millions of dong to enroll in a star school.

However, since T does not have any good relations with VIPs, he decided to follow the second way – getting in through the back door. “I asked for the help from a teacher and I have been told to pay $1,500 for a seat at a star school in Dong Da district,” he said.

T said that parents nowadays not only try to send their children to star schools, but also try to enroll in the classes with qualified teachers.

“I was asked if I need to find a good teacher for my son. The “service fee” was VND10 million,” he said.

However, VND10 million is not the only sum of money parents have to pay to have good teachers for their children. They would still come to see the teachers with gifts regularly on the Teachers’ Day, New Year holiday or Vietnamese Women’s Day.

How much is enough?

Hoa, a parent in Cau Giay district, complained that though she accepted to pay for a seat at a star school, she is not sure if her daughter can enroll in a star school or not.

“I have been told that the star schools all have got full because of the overly high number of golden pigs,” she said.

“The teacher, who promised to help me find a seat at the school for my daughter, said that I would only know about the “fate of my daughter” in two weeks,” she complained.

Meanwhile, Lan, a parent who want to send her daughter to a primary school in Ba Dinh district, said she is willing to pay $3,000, or VND60 million as the “underground fee” for this. However, Lan said she does not know who to contact to ask for the “service.”

A report of the Hanoi Education and Training Department showed that the number of primary school students in Hanoi increases sharply by 11,000 to 125,000.

Thanh Duy – Phong Dang