A decision was recently made by the city authorities not to increase tuition fees at Da Nang’s schools for the 2016 - 2017 academic year, which will officially begin on 1 September.

Poor pupils in Son Tra District receiving scholarships

This is happy news for local residents who have children still of school age, especially low-income earners.

47-year-old Dinh Van Tinh from Son Tra District is a typical example.  He has 2 daughters who are studying at the Phan Boi Chau Junior High School.  He said, “My wife and I can only earn a total income of 7 million VND each month. We, therefore, have to cut down on daily expenditure as much as possible.  I am very happy about the city’s decision”.

46-year-old Nguyen Thi Thu from Hai Chau District said, “I have 3 school-aged children, and all of my monthly salary of around 3 million VND is used to cover their tuition fees.  Therefore, all of my family’s living expenses have to be covered by my husband’s unstable income from carpentry work.  Unchanged tuition fees are very helpful for poor families”.

Numerous charitable activities are being held across the city to help local poor pupils prepare for the upcoming 2016 - 2017 academic year.

At the Vo Thi Sau Primary School in Hai Chau District, many of the school’s poor pupils have already been given textbooks, notebooks, school uniforms, and health insurance cards.  The school’s Principal, Ms Phan Thi Thu Lan, remarked that around 50 poor pupils are still in need of help, and she is appealing for more donations from generous donors.

The Principal of Phan Boi Chau School in Son Tra District, Dinh Viet Khai, said “My school and the district’s Study Encouragement Association are planning to give scholarships and new school uniforms to dozens of our poor pupils”.

It is reported that, since the middle of this month, the district’s Study Encouragement Association has raised money from local generous donors to help local poor pupils.  Thanks to this, scholarships worth 500,000 VND each have been awarded to 75 local poor pupils.

The Association’s Chairwoman, Ms Nguyen Thi Suu, said “Our district now has over 1,500 poor and 462 orphaned pupils who are in need of help.  My association will continue raising funds to help them in order to prevent them from dropping out of school due to poverty”.