Many expenses at the beginning of the new school year
The new school year 2024 - 2025 is approaching, but Ms. Nguyen Thi Thao - a worker at Tra Noc Industrial Park (Can Tho City) - still cannot take care of her two children properly. According to Ms. Thao's calculations, not to mention tuition fees, insurance, etc., just buying clothes and school supplies for her two children costs a decent amount of money.
“My two children are growing up so they have to buy new uniforms every year. Buying 2 sets of school and exercise clothes for your children costs about 1.5 - 2 million VND. The cost of shoes, backpacks, textbooks, notebooks, other school supplies... is also nearly 3 million VND. All together it's nearly 5 million VND, more than 1 month of my basic salary," Ms. Thao shared.
Entering the new school year, female student Le Ngoc Trang - a student at Can Tho University - is also having a headache with many expenses. According to Ngoc Trang, in addition to tuition, learning tools, documents... this year, female students also registered to study foreign languages to take the diploma exam and graduate.
“Basically calculating the selected modules, I expect my first semester tuition to be between 10 - 11 million VND. This year, I also registered to study foreign languages to take the B1 degree exam. The tuition fee for the 3-month course is 2.7 million VND. The exam fee according to my reference is about 1.2 million VND. Calculating everything, at the beginning of this new school year I have to spend about 14 - 15 million VND. That's not including other side items such as documents, books, notebooks...", the female student said.
Busy looking for seasonal work
Because the house is far away, the cost of both travel and return for the family of four is nearly 2 million VND, while there are many expenses to take care of at the beginning of the new school year for their children, so Thao and her husband decided to stay in the city to find seasonal jobs. holiday 2.9.
The female worker said that some shops are now also starting to recruit seasonal workers, mainly waiters, dishwashers, security guards... Although these jobs during the holidays are hard, they make up for it. You will receive income 2-3 times higher than usual.
“I plan to wash dishes, and my husband will work as a seasonal security guard. If I work throughout the holidays, I think my husband and I can earn 2-3 million VND to take care of our children's education. We will also try to arrange free time to take our children to celebrate in the city," Ms. Thao said.
Although the cost of returning home to Ca Mau is not much, Ngoc Trang also plans to stay in Can Tho. Accordingly, in addition to a permanent part-time job at a fashion store, female students are looking for another seasonal job to increase their income and pay for tuition.
“During the holidays, the salary at the fashion store I work at will be doubled, from 16,000 VND/hour to 32,000 VND/hour. However, the cost of this semester is quite high so I am looking for a seasonal job to do part-time work such as serving at a cafe, restaurant... Through reference, the salary for overtime work on holidays usually ranges from 30,000 - 40,000 VND/day. hour. If I work all the holidays, my income from fixed and seasonal part-time jobs can be from 1.5 to 2 million VND," Ngoc Trang said.
