There are, however, some persistent problems. One is that children do not always commence
primary school at the age of six. About 10% of all children entering school for the first time are older
than six years of age. Another problem is that there is a relatively high incidence, estimated currently
to be about 10%, of children in the
primary years who are required to
repeat year levels.34 A contributing
factor is the need for many children
in rural areas to leave school in order
to help their parents with farming –
as happens also in Lao PDR, Viet
Nam and Myanmar. Furthermore,
parents may not be able to afford
to keep sending their children to
school. The abolition in 2001 of
primary school tuition fees greatly
increased school attendance, but
other financial obstacles remain.