Ms. Lo Thi Dung, 43 years old, in Thuong Tin commune, Hanoi City (hometown in Mai Chau commune, Phu Tho) is currently working as a worker for a construction company near her house.
Ms. Dung said that she used to be a freelancer, for more than 2 years she has been a worker, her current income is about 13 million VND/month. Ms. Dung's husband works at a company specializing in producing plastic goods, with an income of about 10 million VND/month. The total income of Ms. Dung and her husband is about 23 million VND/month.
Ms. Dung and her husband have 2 children: The eldest child is a final year student, both studying and working part-time to help her parents; the second child is a 2nd year student at Hanoi Architectural University.
According to Ms. Dung, her 2 children go to school without having to rent a room, having dinner at home with their parents, so she saves this amount of money. Currently, the family's biggest burden is taking care of their son in his final year and daughter with a specialized major. In addition to tuition fees, children also have many expenses for studying, lunch, and travel.
The eldest son takes advantage of working part-time, so he helps his parents by taking care of gasoline, phone, and lunch money at school. Currently, the most difficult thing for the family is tuition fees. The tuition fee for the son is about 17 million VND/semester; the tuition fee for the daughter is 12-15 million VND/semester," Ms. Dung shared.
Each month, after receiving the salary, Ms. Dung balances the income of the couple, dividing fixed expenses for food, living expenses, and tuition fees for her children... In which, the money for her children's education accounts for about 1⁄4 of the couple's total income.
I feel relieved that my son will only have 1 year left to graduate, he will go to work, take care of himself and help his parents more. At that time, the whole family will focus on taking care of his daughter. His major needs to invest more in practical experience, machinery and equipment, and means to serve work such as computers, cameras...", Ms. Dung said.
Also according to Ms. Dung, looking back at the past journey, she and her husband encouraged each other and admired themselves for going through a "long road" when determined to take care of their children's education properly. Seeing her children's progress day by day, she is even more motivated to try to work, spend sparingly... so that her children have a better future.
Also determined to take care of his children's education to become good people, Mr. Tran Ba Dinh, 56 years old, currently working as a mechanic in Chuong My ward (Hanoi) and his wife, a garment worker, are working every day to nurture the future for their children.
At my age, many people are starting to think about resting, but my husband and I are full of energy every day because we have a "big goal" to strive for: to take care of our two children to study and become talented," Mr. Dinh excitedly said.
Mr. Dinh's eldest child is in his second year of university, and the youngest child just entered 11th grade. The total monthly income of the couple is about 16-17 million VND/month. Although they have to calculate each item in detail, from tuition fees, rent for the eldest child to tuition fees for the youngest child, Mr. Dinh's family is always full of determination.
Mr. Dinh shared that every time he holds his salary in his hand, he and his wife divide it into several amounts: One amount to send to the eldest child to rent a room and study; one amount to take care of the younger child in high school; the rest is tried to save money for food and living expenses. In compensation for the hardship of his parents, Mr. Dinh's children are all consciously studying, obediently helping their parents with housework.
“We tightened our belts a little, a little simple eating is okay, as long as our children have the best learning conditions. Sometimes we have to work overtime to earn extra income, but I am not discouraged, I have faith in a bright future for the whole family. Children being educated, having a future, stabilizing their lives and becoming useful people for society - that is the greatest reward, the most complete happiness of my wife and I,” Mr. Dinh happily shared.
