VietNamNet Bridge – Most Vietnamese believe that learning is the only way for their children to escape poverty and change their lives, and will do everything they can to provide their children with a university education.
Mr. Nguyen Van Can.
1.The first spell of the university entrance exams took place on July 3-4. A lot of moving stories about how parents and students attended the exams together have been reported in local newspapers.
Nguyen Van Can, 78, in Thanh Hoa Province, had both paternal and maternal grandchildren attending this year’s university entrance exams. The former were sitting the exam to the Security Academy, while the latter were taking the exam for the Hanoi Civil Engineering University.
On July 1, 2014, three days before the exam day, Can, with a small backpack and broad-brimmed hat, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory, traveled 150 kilometers from Thanh Hoa province to Hanoi on his old bicycle.
The grandpa said he wanted to be present in Hanoi to encourage his two grandchildren to attend the difficult exams, but he decided not to take a bus or coach, but a bicycle.
“I wish to give more strength to my grandchildren, so that they can pass the exams for university,” he said.
Can luckily found a place for him to stay in Hanoi – the Bang A Pagoda in Hoang Mai District in Hanoi. He said on the way from Thanh Hoa to Hanoi, he dropped into the Bai Dinh Pagoda to pray for blessings for him and his family members.
2. Being a seriously wounded veteran with two hands lost, Trinh Dinh Phi still traveled 200 kilometers to Hanoi together with his son, who attended the exam for the Commando Officer University this summer.
Phi said it was hard to travel such a long distance, but he was proud to go with his son to Hanoi to sit the entrance exam to university.
“I went with him to Hanoi just to encourage him. But in fact, he has to help me do many things,” he said, adding that the boy is a good son and excellent student.
Phi brought his elder son to Hanoi to attend the university entrance exam four years ago.
3. An examinee who came to Hanoi to attend the university entrance exam had just VND500,000 in his pocket.
He was Nguyen Viet Dung, 18, from Thanh Ha District of Hai Duong Province, who registered to sit the exam to the Hanoi University of Water Resources University.
Dung said that he had to come to the capital city alone. His mother died when Dung was one year old, while the father had another family. The grandmother, who Dung lived with for many years, died last year.
Being alone in Hanoi, Dung said he did not feel lonely because he received great support from relatives, who lent him VND500,000 to help him travel to Hanoi, and from volunteers in Hanoi, who found free accommodation for him.
Compiled by Chi Mai