VnnNews – In spite of poverty and hunger, thousands of students in remote areas still cross rivers and mountains every day to attend school.
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According to the Quang Ngai Education and Training Department, some 10,000 students in six mountainous districts of Son Ha, Son Tay, Tay Tra, Tra Bong, Ba To and Minh Long have to walk between 10 and 30 kilometers a day, crossing rivers and mountains to go to school.
School hours finish at 5 p.m but students won’t reach home till eight. Despite all these hardships, the daily turnout remains good.
When the drum beat resounded, a lot of students gather in groups at Cham Rao and Xa Nay Thuong boat station (Son Nham Commune), waiting to take boats home. The students from Son Nham Commune not only have to go to school by ferry but also walk 7 kilometers.
Similarly, hundreds of students of Son Bao High School in Son Ha District had to cross a 7-to-10-kilometer distance armed only with flashlights to go to school. 
“Our school has about 140 students who want to be boarders, but there are only enough rooms for 20 of them, so the rest still has to travel the very long distance to go to school”, said Mr. Vo Van Tung-the Headmaster of Son Bao High School.
Ms. Huynh Thi Phuong Thuy, a Math-Physics teacher of Son Nham School said: “The enthusiasm of these students is a great encouragement to all teachers here”.
Pitching tents for knowledge
Alongside the path leading to Nuoc Bung Hamlet, Di Lang Town, Son Ha District, reporters counted at least 20 tents around Son Ha High School. Each tent had up to four students inside despite being just 10 meters square.
Many other students who couldn’t pitch tents asked villagers to stay at their houses which are nearer to the school.
In a run-down tent, Dinh Thi Thanh, a student of class 12C2 and Dinh Thi K’Reg from class 11B4 were seen diligently doing homework. Thanh and K’Reg lived in Ta Bang Hamlet, Son Thuy Commune-17 kilometers away from Son Ha High school.
“I have to go home once a week to bring 3kilogrammes of rice back to school for meals. Sometimes, when there is no rice left, my parents have to borrow some from other villagers for me to bring it to school. In rainy seasons, the mountain roads are muddy, Once I accidently slipped and fell and the rice fell into the mud. I could do nothing but cry and ask for some rice of my friends from the tents near mine⦔ – Thanh related with eyes wet with tears.
In Thanh and K’Reg’s small tent there are only a handful of unrefined salt, a few stems of vegetables next to a cold cooking fire and an empty pot.
“Our school has 688 students, nearly two third of them live very far from school, about 10-30 kilometers. Some of them can luckily go to school by bike, but the rest have to cross many rivers and slopes which are full of obstacles to school. So we asked the residents around here to allow students to stay with them. We have also created the best conditions for students to pitch tents to stay”, said Mr. Nguyen Huu Thinh, the Headmaster of Son Ha High school, adding that the path to knowledge can be very bumpy.
VietNamNet/TT
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