VietNamNet Bridge - The news about a university lecturer who had to sell his land to pay for his child’s overseas study has stirred up the public. 

Mr Vo Viet Cuong

“My eldest child is in the eighth grade. I think I will send him abroad when he enters the 10th grade,” said Vo Viet Cuong, head of the International Cooperation Division at the HCMC University of Technical Education.

Cuong sold a 110 square meter land plot for VND2 billion and deposited the money in banks where it will be ready for disbursement in two years when his child leaves Vietnam.

Cuong often checks how children do at school every week. He often hears complaints from them about different matters, including those related to democracy in education and teaching methods.

If children study abroad, they will not want to come back to Vietnam, because they can adapt to the new circumstances and feel happy

“I thought I needed to see the headmaster. But I later changed my mind. The meeting may do more harm than good,” he said. “So I decided to sell land to get money to fund my child’s study overseas, though I don’t want to.”

Cuong still doesn’t know where to send his child as education systems vary in the US, Europe and Asia.

“The main purpose of sending my child abroad is giving him the opportunity to receive new education, and it’s unclear if he will return to Vietnam after graduation,” he said. 

“I believe that if children study abroad, they will not want to come back to Vietnam, because they can adapt to the new circumstances and feel happy,” he said.

Cuong studied in Japan for a master’s degree and doctorate. However, as he left Vietnam late at the age of 25, he was only familiar with Vietnamese culture and did not feel happy living overseas.

“I hope that if my eldest child studies abroad and earns money, he will help his parents feed his younger brothers,” he said. “It would be better to send children abroad to study. It is obvious that foreign education is better than Vietnamese.”

It appears that many Vietnamese think like Cuong. 

A report from the education working group of the Vietnam Business Forum showed an increasingly high number of Vietnamese students studying overseas. 

There are 110,000 students studying in 47 countries. Vietnamese spend around $3 billion a year on international education.

Vietnam has more than 100,000 students studying abroad, while only 2,000 foreign students are studying in Vietnam.

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