A school in central Vietnam has denied entry to a fifth-grade boy because he is Christian, according to a letter from an elementary school principal to the Degar (Montagnard) child’s parents. Tran Van Ha, principal of Ka Dang Public Elementary School in Quang Nam province, wrote to Phong Hong Phong’s parents on July 2 that the child could not take an entrance exam because the school district had announced a new rule barring “students who follow a religion.”
According to the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Compass, the apparently embarrassed Ha asks the parents for their “understanding and sympathy,” saying that the decision was outside of his control. A source in Vietnam who provided the correspondence to Compass said that other parents received similar letters. He added that, although Vietnam has shown some progress in religious freedom, “Ethic minority Christian students still meet with considerable official discrimination.” (Source: Compass Direct News)
