Preparing for the new school year: Sharing the burden, helping each other go to school

GD&TĐ - Schools in Ho Chi Minh City are busy preparing for the new school year, paying special attention to supporting students in difficult circumstances.

With many creative methods such as donations, fund raising or resource mobilization, these programs have contributed to "supporting" children to go to school, while reducing the burden of worries for parents.

Raising piggy banks to support the poor

At the end of May 2025, Le Quy Don Secondary School (Ben Cat Ward) organized a piggy bank collection festival to raise humanitarian funds. The program opened 68 piggy banks from 68 classes, collecting a total of nearly 68 million VND. Mr. Pham Van Sang - Principal of the school, said: "From this money, the school will spend on buying uniforms, textbooks, notebooks and awarding scholarships to support disadvantaged students before entering the 2025 - 2026 school year. The remaining money will be used to support students on the occasion of the traditional New Year and the end of the school year".

Mr. Sang added that every year, preparing for the new school year is always a concern for many parents when they have to spend a lot of money on buying clothes, shoes, books, etc. This is even more difficult for poor and near-poor families. Understanding that situation, the school has launched the movement "Raising piggy banks to raise humanitarian funds".

The movement was popularized by the Board of Directors to teachers and students right from the beginning of the school year. Each class will prepare a separate piggy bank, every day, students who have the means will save their breakfast money to "raise a pig". The support is completely based on the spirit of volunteerism, students can use the money saved from selling scrap paper, cans or breakfast money... to "raise a big pig" with denominations such as 500, 1,000, 5,000 or 10,000 VND.

According to Mr. Sang, over the years, this meaningful model has motivated hundreds of students with difficult circumstances to go to school. On average, each year, the school has 30-40 students with difficult circumstances, most of whom are children of workers working in industrial zones in the area, some of whom are orphans or come from poor or near-poor households. Along with the "Piggy Bank" model, the school also actively mobilizes benefactors to join hands to support scholarships, notebooks, school supplies... to help students.

“Each piggy bank is not only a place to store money, but also a symbol of love and deep sharing from the classes for students in difficult circumstances. In particular, this movement has been implemented at the school for many years and received strong support and agreement from parents and students. The activity has also aroused in the students the spirit of mutual love, helping students in difficulty to excel in their studies and life,” Mr. Sang shared.

Class time of students at Nguyen Dinh Chieu Special School (Vuon Lai Ward). Photo: MA

Mobilizing all resources

In the summer of 2025, Thanh An Primary School (Thanh An commune) has been connecting with organizations and sister units to mobilize uniforms, notebooks, scholarships... to give to disadvantaged students. Mr. Le Huu Binh - Principal of the school, said that Thanh An island commune has more than 1,200 households living, with many difficult socio -economic conditions. "In the 2025 - 2026 school year, the school has about 250 students, of which the number of near-poor students accounts for about 40%.

Like previous years, understanding the difficulties of parents, along with the support of sister units, organizations and kind-hearted individuals, the school always gives the best to students. In particular, the school focuses on taking care of uniforms, books, notebooks... so that students can enter the new school year happily and meaningfully. Up to now, the school has mobilized 250 uniforms, 3,000 notebooks and 2 hot and cold water machines to take care of students. Hopefully, those feelings will be a source of encouragement and motivation for students to continue to strive, practice and study better," Mr. Binh shared.

Similarly, at Nguyen Dinh Chieu Special School (Vuon Lai Ward) which specializes in teaching visually impaired children, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Hue - Principal of the school, said: "The Board of Directors always pays special attention to taking care of students at the beginning of the new school year.

In the 2025-2026 school year alone, the school has mobilized organizations and donors to provide 140 gifts (each worth 500,000 VND) and 80 million VND in cash to give to students in difficult circumstances. Currently, we are still actively mobilizing kind-hearted people to have more gifts and scholarships to partially support the difficulties as well as to give more motivation for students to enter the new school year."

At Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Primary School (Thong Tay Hoi Ward), with a student population of more than 1,300, about 40% of them are children of families with temporary residence who work in jobs such as small traders, workers, lottery ticket sellers... and have a difficult life. Therefore, every year, before the new school year, in addition to mobilizing dozens of gifts from political and social organizations and donors, the school principal also supports 10-15 health insurance cards for poor students.

Ms. Do Thi Mai - Principal of the school, shared: "In fact, at the beginning of the school year, parents have many things to worry about for their children such as books, clothes, tuition... Therefore, after school starts, for those who are really in difficulty, I will use my own money to support. Not only buying health insurance but also books, uniforms or school supplies... This new school year, after mobilizing benefactors to support health insurance cards for the children, if there is any shortage, I will use my own money to support the remaining cases."

Mr. Pham Van Sang - Principal of Le Quy Don Secondary School (Ben Cat Ward) emphasized: "On the threshold of the new school year, the joint efforts and support of the whole society not only share the difficulties and shortages with students but also serve as an important source of spiritual encouragement. This meaningful work will certainly add confidence and determination for students to strive to excel and achieve many new results in studying and training."

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/chuan-bi-nam-hoc-moi-san-se-ganh-lo-tiep-suc-den-truong-post746356.html