Students stress over inadequate parking

Students struggle to find parking at the University of Economics on Nguyen Tri Phuong Street, District 10 campus, despite the addition of an extra level to the parking lot.

University students have to be clever these days to find a place to park and get to exams on time.

A student at Ho Chi Minh City private University of Technology (HUTECH) burst into tears because she was running late for her exam and could not find a parking spot.

It is a common story as the university does not provide any parking for its thousands of students.

To get to class, students have to look for parking in either a small private parking lot next to the university, private houses or sneak into parking lots for students at nearby universities such as at Van Hien University or HCMC University of Transport.

The problem has become so bad that other universities have put up signs saying that “HUTECH student vehicles are prohibited.”

Students at the Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, District 3 campus of the University of Economics face a similar problem.

There is a small parking lot on the footpath outside, but it is only for short periods and it does not accept bicycles.

Otherwise, students have to find a place in one of the private houses nearby or try their luck at the Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh or HCMC University of Architecture, which does not always allow it.

HCMC University of Banking uses the pavement as a parking lot, but yet again students are not allowed to park bicycles there, a student says.

Parking problems are one of the major causes for students being late for classes and exams. Queue ups at the lots are common.

It is a problem that causes students a lot of stress at exam time with parking lot staff widely unsympathetic if they are running late.

Price concerns

Many of the universities provide parking in morning and afternoon blocks, making students pay double if they have to stay at college all day.

Some schools, meanwhile, fail to fix their parking prices clearly.

An affiliate of HCMC University of Law has rented storehouses for parking lots but each one has prices ranging from VND500 (US$0.02) for a bicycle to VND3,000 ($0.17) for a motorbike making it a matter of luck for struggling college goers.

Despite a board fixing parking prices at VND500 ($0.03) for a bicycle and VND1,000 ($0.06) for a motorbike at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, staff often charges students VND2,000 ($0.12), saying they are “non-students”, according to the students.

Source: Tuoi Tre