Supporting students from disadvantaged areas

Teachers at Cao Loc District Ethnic Boarding Secondary and High School provide tutoring for students without receiving any remuneration.

For the 2025 high school graduation exam, nearly 10,000 students from 47 high schools across the province registered to take the exam at 22 testing locations. According to reports from the provincial education department, at some high schools, many students had to travel far from home and rent accommodation to participate in the exam, facing numerous difficulties that require both material and emotional support.

Mr. Dang Hong Cuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training, said: "Besides preparing all necessary conditions regarding facilities, human resources, and exam organization plans, the department pays special attention to supporting candidates, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds and remote areas. We have directed schools and exam centers to proactively review and compile lists of students needing support, and at the same time coordinate with parents, local authorities, and organizations to arrange accommodation, meals, and transportation for these students throughout the exam period. The general spirit is to create the best conditions for all candidates to participate in the exam, ensuring that no student has to miss the exam due to their circumstances."

Following the directives of the Provincial Examination Steering Committee, high schools throughout the province have reviewed and compiled a list of approximately 1,000 disadvantaged students to develop appropriate support plans. Simultaneously, schools across the province have raised over 560 million VND to support students with accommodation, transportation, lunch, and school supplies.

Hoang Phi Yen, a student in class 12C4 at Dinh Lap High School, shared: "My home is in Na Khum village, Lam Ca commune, about 30 km from Dinh Lap town. At this time, many of my classmates in the same boarding house have taken advantage of the time to go home and study on their own while waiting for the exam day. I stayed in the boarding house to save on travel costs and to have a quiet space to concentrate on studying. At first, I was very worried, not knowing how to eat and rest properly between exam sessions to continue with the next subjects. Luckily, the school informed us about the support for lunch, drinks, and necessary supplies, so I'm no longer worried and can focus on studying for the exam."

This year, Dinh Lap High School has 197 students participating in the high school graduation exam, including 20 students from disadvantaged backgrounds. To support these students during the exam, the school mobilized social resources to provide each disadvantaged student with 300,000 VND. Besides the school's own students, there are also 78 students from the Vocational Education and Continuing Education Center, the District's Ethnic Boarding Secondary and High School, and independent candidates. During this period, the school, in coordination with the Youth Union, formed volunteer teams to assist with transporting students, cleaning the exam site, distributing exam materials to 275 students, providing drinking water, and preparing 90 free lunch meals daily for the students throughout the exam period.

Upon investigation, it was learned that to ensure candidates arrive at the examination site on time, schools proactively developed contingency plans for adverse weather conditions (rainstorms causing floods, landslides disrupting transportation). Accordingly, each school compiled a list of candidates with complete information: full name, address, phone number of the candidate and their family, and clearly noted any cases of difficult circumstances requiring assistance. This list was forwarded to volunteer teams supporting the exam for monitoring. If a candidate was not present close to the exam time, the teacher would immediately notify the volunteer team to call and remind the candidate and their family to ensure they arrived at the examination room on time, or they would directly pick up the candidate from their home and take them to the examination site.

In addition, schools are encouraging students from distant areas to rent accommodation or contact families of students near the exam location to stay with them in case of heavy rain. They are also guiding students to prepare flexible transportation plans if the road from their homes to the exam location is affected by storms and floods. Furthermore, the principals of schools in the exam areas have contacted nearby kindergartens and primary schools to arrange lunchtime rest areas and mobilize support for free meals for candidates from distant areas. Notably, many school principals have also mobilized organizations and businesses to provide scholarships, accommodation, travel expenses, and meals and drinks for candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Mr. To Viet, Principal of Tu Doan High School (Loc Binh district), said: This year, Tu Doan High School has 166 12th-grade students participating in the exam. They come from many communes such as San Vien, Tinh Bac, Tu Mich, Tu Doan, and Khuat Xa; some live up to 20 km from the school, making travel very difficult. In particular, the terrain in these communes is mostly divided by many rivers and streams, so heavy rains can easily cause floods and landslides, making it difficult for students to travel from home to the exam site. Therefore, we contacted Tu Doan 1 Kindergarten to arrange temporary accommodation for the students. Before June 25th, the school will encourage students who live far away or have to cross rivers and streams to stay near the exam area to ensure they arrive on time. To date, 34 students have registered to stay; 43 students have registered for lunch and dinner. These meals were provided by the school through social mobilization efforts, ensuring that the students can focus on their exams.

Besides planning and providing support for accommodation and transportation, many schools also focus on accompanying disadvantaged students in their exam preparation. For example, at Cao Loc District Ethnic Boarding Secondary and High School, the majority of students come from disadvantaged backgrounds. To support them, the school's teachers' youth union has participated in the "Sundays Without Rest, For the Goal of Reaching Dreams" movement. Specifically, every Sunday, teachers in the exam preparation team regularly teach and review classes for 12th-grade students without receiving any remuneration, with the spirit of "teachers accompanying, students confidently moving forward," hoping to contribute to helping students confidently enter the important exam.

Through various practical measures, all levels of government, sectors, and schools in the province are focusing resources and demonstrating the highest sense of responsibility, creating all conditions for candidates, especially students from disadvantaged areas, to confidently enter the exam. It is believed that the attention from all levels of government and the support of society will help candidates achieve the best possible results in the 2025 high school graduation exam.

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