Student Class Nature Changed

Under socialism in the DRV, there have been inevitable changes in the class nature of the student population. In 1955 the majority of the students were middle class but now all of them are from worker or peasant families. The capitalists and the landlord class people are now part of the worker or peasant mass and the only grouping classified by the Vietnamese themselves as being apart from the workers and the peasants are the intelligentsia, such as doctors and teachers.

Such change in the class nature of the student body is due not only to the transformation of the class nature of society but to special assistance given to the children of workers by the students' Union.

During the bombing of the DRV the schools and universities were removed from the cities to the countryside. Entire university towns were created in the rural areas. Not only was it ensured that studies were not interrupted but there was a special effort to organise cultural and sporting activities and create a student community as close as possible to normal. Study and practice were combined to deal with the requirements of the wartime situation.

Between April and September of 1972 the US attacked 10 high schools killing 84 students and wounding 67. Anti-aircraft brigades were formed, a number of planes were brought down and their pilots captured. All students undertook military training for one month of the year and this practice is continued even though the period is reduced. Many of the students wanted to join the army to fight for the fatherland but were denied permission to do so until 1971 when a certain number were released from their studies. Many of these students gained the award of 'Heroes of the Army'. One such civil engineering 'Hero' was a student who specialised in the heavy roading for tanks. He was wounded in the arm and he begged for the arm to be amputated in order that he could fight on. Even when he was wounded again he continued in the attack.

The Viet Nam National Union for Students was founded in 1954 and today every student is eligible to be a member and joins because of the considerable number of benefits offered. A Congress is held every year in each school and the head of the school attends the Congress to answer the demands of the students as well as telling the students what he or she expects of them.

The Head will request such things as better care of the furniture while the students will make requests for better food or different books. One of the functions of the Council is to elect the schools Executive Committee of the Party whose duty is to foster the political development of the school while leaving the more everyday tasks of administration to the school Management Board, the student union or the Ho Chi Minh Youth Union.

Most people in the DRV between the ages of 15 and 18 are members of a Ho Chi Minh Youth Union. Those still at school participate in the activities of the Ho Chi Minh Youth Union of the school. With the increased standards of education and the higher proportion of working class children in the schools, the proportion of the Ho Chi Minh Youth Unions has correspondingly increased. The Youth Union has activities outside the education context and therefore the Students Union does not need to cover anywhere near as broad a scope as it does in New Zealand.

This method of dealing with disciplinary matters provides an example of how the students are an integral part of the decision making process The Disciplinary Board comprises members of the Lao Dong, the Youth Union and the Student Union. This Board examines the case presented by the Management Board of the school and hear explanations.