Quang Binh (VNA) - For the last few years, an increasingnumber of students in Hai Ninh commune in central Quang Binh province’s QuangNinh district have dropped out of school to help their parents with fishing atsea.

According to the commune People’s Committee, in the school year2016-2017, the commune had 115 students graduate from secondary schools butjust 88 applied to high schools for 2017-2018. It is unclear if all of the 88students will attend high school.

Hoang Van Than, head of the commune’s Studying PromotionAssociation, said that after graduating from secondary schools, many localstudents did not want to continue their education.

“Male students work at sea with their families while female studentsquit school and go to urban areas to seek jobs,” Than said.

With the new school year fast approaching early next month, Thansaid that local authorities and agencies are trying to encourage children toreturn to school.

In the past, children of poor households dropped out of schoolsbecause of financial difficulties but recently, children of well-off familieshave also quit school early to work, he said.

Nguyen Xuan Ninh, 15 years old, of Hai Ninh commune, has worked onan offshore fishing boat for three months after he graduated from secondaryschool.

“I won’t continue going to school because I am not good atstudying. My family is not well-off and I also have two younger sisters atschool age. Now, I can work to earn some money to help my parents,” Ninh said.

Ninh said that most boys in his class did not go to school anymore, with only 10 of the 31 in his class planning to return to school.

Another teenager Nguyen Van Hiep said he and his family agreedthat even with a degree, he would struggle to get a job.

So after graduating from secondary school, Hiep started working atsea like his father.

In other central coastal provinces including Nghe An, Quang Tri,Thua Thien-Hue, school dropouts have been reported because of poverty and earlymarriage.

Do Van Phu, Director of Quang Ngai province’s Education andTraining Department said that last school year, the province had a dropout rateof 0.69 percent or more than 1,400 dropping out, including 24 primarystudents, 571 secondary students and 841 high school students.

Phu said that the number of students dropping out fell but thedropout rate remained high.

He said students who performed poorly did not want to continueschooling and the low rate of students find work after graduation also harmedschool attendance.

Nguyen Dinh Vinh, director of Da Nang city’s Education andTraining Department, said that timely assistance to disadvantaged studentscould help prevent them dropping out.

He said that at the beginning and end of terms, the departmentasked schools and teachers to review students’ situations and give assistance.-VNA