School rejects disabled students because... there is no space for a desk!

Overcome difficulties to study well

Duẩn was born with polio. Duẩn’s parents (Mr. Nguyen Van Duong, 38 years old and Ms. Le Thi Phuong Dung, 35 years old) tried to treat him but his condition did not improve. Despite his disability, the older Duẩn grew, the more he showed extraordinary determination, going to school every day and studying well like other healthy peers.

Duẩn's limbs shriveled and contracted more and more. Every time he copied, Duẩn had difficulty bending over the table. The way Duẩn held a pen and ruler was also very special, combining the elbow of his right hand and the sole of his right foot. His weak fingers could not grasp anything. Only his left foot could move up and down, back and forth, so Duẩn relied on it to keep his balance when sitting and writing.

Although his body was severely paralyzed, Duẩn practiced diligently and chose his writing style very skillfully. The notebooks of many of his classmates could not keep up with Duẩn's. Thanks to his good memory and his efforts to overcome his fate, Duẩn always achieved good results during his 4 years at Nhon My Secondary School and was awarded a certificate of merit for "Overcoming difficulties and studying well" by the Chairman of Binh Dinh Provincial People's Committee.

	Many times I went to the district, met with the leaders of the provincial Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs when they met with voters in the commune, I presented my situation and hoped to create conditions for my child to go to school, but then there was no place to resolve it...
	Mr. Nguyen Van Duong, father of Nguyen Le Duan

In 2008, after Thanh Nien published the article “Going to school on your hands”, readers of the newspaper gave Duẩn two sets of computers, including a laptop. Since then, Duẩn has diligently practiced typing on the keyboard and drawing on the computer with one foot; and now he can compose documents fluently and draw very well.

Abandoned

The 2008-2009 school year ended, Duẩn qualified to graduate from junior high school. When he took the entrance exam to An Nhon 2 High School for the 2009-2010 school year, Duẩn scored 21 points in 3 subjects: Math, Literature and Chemistry (2 points short of the standard score for this school). According to the rules, students who lack the score to enter An Nhon 2 High School are admitted to Nguyen Truong To High School. When Mr. Duong applied for his son to study, the school leaders refused to accept him because "there was no room in the classroom to put a separate desk for a disabled student" (!). Mr. Duong tried to convince him by saying that he would reduce his son's custom-made desk so as not to cause trouble for the school, but in the end the school flatly refused.

For over a year, Duẩn has been forced to stay home from school, but his desire for knowledge is still burning within him. He still studies the 10th grade textbooks by himself every day, and still cherishes the dream of going to school this new school year. Duẩn’s old classmates are now in 11th grade. Many of them are willing to take Duẩn to school even though the school is more than 5 km away from home.

Mr. Duong choked up: “Many times I went to the district, met with the leaders of the provincial Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs when they met with voters in the commune, I explained my situation and hoped to create conditions for my child to go to school, but then there was no solution. If my child's academic performance is not up to standard, it's okay if the school doesn't accept him. But my child is very hard-working, qualified to continue studying at high school, but the school "discards" him because of his disability, it's a pity for our family. If he doesn't go to school, my child will fall into a dead end."

Mr. Duong works as a kitchen assistant cooking for weddings in his hometown, while Ms. Dung stays home as a housewife and raises three children. Seeing their eldest son living with a disability and being sad because he dropped out of school, Mr. Duong and his wife could only shed tears.

Phu Temple

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/truong-tu-choi-hoc-sinh-khuet-tat-vi-khong-co-cho-ke-ban-185187589.htm