(VNF) - Students no longer have to commute to the mainland if they want to complete high school as a high school junior class of 28 students has opened at the secondary school in Thanh An island.

Thanh An Island is a remote commune in Can Gio District, Ho Chi Minh City. It takes at least 45 minutes to get there across the sea by boat.

The offshore commune of Thanh An in Can Gio District was located east of Ho Chi Minh City (Source: juno.vn)

The island only has an elementary and a secondary school for local children. It means 9^th graders, or secondary school seniors, here have had to choose to either to quit high school or continue their studies by living away from their families in a dormitory at Can Thanh High School on the mainland.

Officials’ statistics show that 60 percent of households on the island are below the poverty line. At least four to five students from Thanh An Island quit high school every year.

The reasons were mostly that they could not keep traveling to the mainland to study, or their parents were too poor to support them living away from home.

That’s all changed now with a high school junior class of 28 students has opened at the secondary school. Teachers from Can Thanh High School travel to Thanh An everyday to teach the class.

A new, bigger school is under construction for both secondary and high school students on Thanh An Island for next year. But starting from this year already, no high school students from the island have quit their studies due to travel distance./.

Minh Phuong ( tuoitre.vn )