Parents willing to pay $3,000 for a seat at “star” schools

From VietNamNet Bridge

Vietnamese parents, who want to give the best education opportunities to their children, are willing to pay the “underground fee” of up to thousands of dollars to obtain a seat at “star schools.”

Vietnamese students at a school

GCR, the Global Corruption Report, released by the Transparency International, the global coalition against corruption, pointed out that corruption exists in the Vietnamese educational sector.

In recent years, the increasingly high demand for high-quality education has prompted Vietnamese parents to run a race for the seats at prestigious and famous schools, or “star schools” as called by Vietnamese.

A report said that more than 40 percent of Vietnamese families spend 10 percent of their total income and more to fund their children’s study.

The report cited an online survey on 20,000 readers conducted by Dan Tri newspaper as reporting that 62 percent of parents admitted that they take full advantage of the personal relations with high ranking officials, or pay under-the-table money to get the seats at star schools for their children.

It pointed out that the bribery sums could be up to $3,000 for a seat at a reputable school, and $300-800 at a medium class school.

Meanwhile, Vietnam is a poor country with the modest income per capita at $1,700 per annum, while the people with the monthly income of VND10-12 million ($500) are considered “high income earners.”

Read the full article from VietNamNet Bridge.