On 5 September 2024, during the school-year opening ceremony at the Lê Hồng Phong High School for the Gifted in Hồ Chí Minh City, the school leadership and the management committee of the Bùi Trọng Chương scholarship fund (BTCSF) organized the annual scholarship award ceremony.
In attendance were some
members of Hồ Chí Minh City’s leadership, the school leadership and teaching
staff, members of the BTCSF management committee (Prof. Lương Văn Hy, Mr. Võ
Anh Dũng [former Principal of Lê Hồng Phong High School], Mr. Trần Hữu Phúc Tiến,
Mr. Lâm Hoàng Phúc, and Bùi Trọng Chương scholarship alumnus Mr. Thái Hoàng Ngọc
Vỹ). While the scholarship fund raising was not favourable due to the economic
situation in Hồ Chí Minh City in 2023 and 2024, BTCSF was still able to award 253
million VND to 19 students at Lê Hồng Phong High School. Six of these 19
students received 15 million VND each due to the greater economic difficulties
of their families; others received 13 million VND each. Five students who had
received Bùi Trọng Chương scholarships in 2023-24 continued receiving awards in
2024-25. The Bùi Trọng Chương
Scholarship Fund acknowledged important contributions from 3 BTC scholarship
alumni.
(*) According to the curriculum standards set by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training in 2018, students are rated “Excellent” for achieving the grade of 8/10 in 6 subjects, and “Outstanding” for achieving 9/10 in 6 subjects. Schools no longer calculate official grade averages.
B. Family backgrounds of 19
students who received BTC scholarships
(listed
not in the same order as in part A)
· Single mother in menial labor job to support a family of 5, including elderly grandparents and 2 children in school. Student not able to afford specialized lessons but still receiving major academic awards.
· Father in retirement age without an income, mother working as a petty trader with trading difficulties to support the family. Family living in rented quarters.
· Father an unskilled laborer with chronic illnesses, mother working as a sidewalk trader to support a family of 4, including 2 children in school.
· Father
passed away due to illness, mother in menial labor job to support a family of 3.
· Father in menial labor job with modest income to support a family of 4. Family living in rented quarters.
· Family in financial difficulties, mother in menial labor job and father in the last stage of a critical illness with major medical expenses.
· Single
mother with health problems and doing itinerant petty trade to support the
entire family. Family living in rented quarters.
· Single mother in menial labor job with unstable income and health problems to support student in school, family living in rented quarters.
· Single mother with income from worker job to raise 2 children in school. Family living in rented quarters.
· Father in freelance semi-skilled job, with unstable income due to poor health, mother a food vendor also with weather-depending income. Family with 2 students with high educational expenses.
· Low family income from sidewalk work of parents to support 2 children in school.
· Father as single parent and with a low worker income to support a family of 4, including 2 elderly and sick grandparents.
· Single mother, often travelling as a part of her job with modest income, to support an elderly grandmother and student in school.
· Parents near retirement, with illnesses and low and unstable income, supporting a family of 5.
· Father having passed away due to illness, mother a senior with low-income job supporting a family of 4, including 2 students in school (1 in university with high educational expenses).
· Father having passed away due to an on-the-job accident, mother in menial labor job to support a family of 4, including 2 children in school.
· Father unemployed and without an income, mother with low worker income to support a family of 3.
· Father long unemployed, and mother on unstable semi-skilled contract work at home to support a family of 4. Student unable to afford specialized lessons due to family finances.
· Father with modest worker income to support a family of 4.
