VietNamNet Bridge – While a lot of Vietnamese students have to break their
studies and return to Vietnam because of the financial problems, many others
have been trying to go studying abroad just because they want to avoid the
compulsory military service.
Nguyen Huong Giang, an officer of an overseas study consultancy firm, yesterday
received a special client.
NMT, a housewife in Cau Giay district in Hanoi, asked Giang about the procedures
to enroll in a foreign school.
The mother seemed to be not too demanding. She just wanted her son successfully
enroll in a foreign university, any schools, to avoid the military service. She
wishes to receive the acceptance from the foreign school soon, so that the boy
can leave Vietnam in June, before he receives the call for military service.
“My son’s learning capability is not really good. Therefore, I don’t think he
would pass the national university entrance to enroll in a domestic school,” NMT
said when she was asked about the boy’s ability.
“I have heard that from now on, all will have to join the army, even if they
pass the entrance exams to domestic schools,” NMT complained. “If he has to join
the army and begin the university education after the two-year military service,
it will be too late for him.”
In the eyes of the boy, serving in the army is a kind of “torture” which doesn’t
bring any good thing. “A neighbor of mine has been redundant over the last few
years since the day he finished the military service. And he has no girlfriend,
because girls don’t like this type of people,” he said.
Finally, NMT and her son decided to enroll in a medium-class school in Australia
which requires the tuition of tens of millions of dong a month.
NTH, a parent in Thai Nguyen City had not thought of sending her only son to
foreign schools until the day she heard about the compulsory military service.
“I previously did not intend of sending him abroad, because our financial
capability is limited. However, I’d rather send him abroad and spend big money
for the tuitions than letting him joining the army,” the mother said to an
officer at the overseas study consultancy firm on Thuy Khue street in Hanoi.
“I am afraid that he cannot bear the iron discipline in the army. Since he is
the only son of ours, we should create most favorable conditions for him,” she
added.
The new regulation by the Ministry of National Defense that all the young people
aged 18 and higher will have to join the army when receiving the calls has made
a lot of parents change their plans.
Ho Phuong Lan, an office worker, said she has decided to send her son abroad
sooner than initially planned. At first, the boy intended to leave Vietnam to
follow university education overseas. However, Lan has changed her mind,
deciding that the boy should leave Vietnam when he enters the 10th grade.
“We will have to pay hundreds of millions of dong for his tuition. However, we
can be sure that he would not have to serve in the army,” Lan said.
To Nguyet Phuong from an overseas consultancy firm has noted that the number of
high school students who came to ask about overseas training courses has been
increasing rapidly in recent days.
“Many of them frankly said that they wanted to go abroad just to avoid the
military service,” Phuong said.
Nguyen Thao