Explain the following – (a) Only one-third of the students in Vietnam would pass the school-leaving examinations

Question.

Q.2. Explain the following –

(a) Only one-third of the students in Vietnam would pass the school-leaving examinations.

(b) The French began building canals and draining lands in the Mekong delta.

(c) The government made the Saigon Native Girls School take back the students it had expelled. [CBSE 2014(D)]
Or

Why did a major protest erupt in 1926 in the Saigon Native Girls School in Vietnam ? Explain. [CBSE 2014]
Or
Describe the incident that took place in 1926 in Saigon Native Girls School. [CBSE 2014]

(d) Rats were most common in the modern, newly built areas of Hanoi.


Solution:

(a) This was largely because of a deliberate policy of failing students, particularly in the final year, so that they could not qualify for the better-paid jobs. Usually, as many as two-thirds of the students were failed, (b) The French began by building canals and draining lands in the Mekong delta to increase cultivation. The vast system of irrigation works – canals and earthworks – built mainly with forced labour, increased rice production, and allowed the export of rice to the international market. The area under rice cultivation went up from about 274,000 hectares in 1873 to around 1.1 million hectares in around 1900 and about 2.2 million in 1930. Vietnam exported two- thirds of its rice production and by 1931, had become the third largest exporter of rice in the world.

(b) In 1926, a major protest erupted in the Saigon Native Girls School. A Vietnamese girl sitting in one of the front seats was asked to move to the back of the class, and allow a local French student to occupy the front bench. She refused. The principal, also a colon (French people in the colonies), expelled her. When angry students protested, they too were expelled, leading to a further spread of open protests. Seeing the situation getting out of control, the government forced the school to take the students back.

(c) The French part of Hanoi was built as a beautiful and clean city with wide avenues and a well-laid-out sewer system, while the ‘native quarter’ was not provided with any modem facilities. The refuge from the old city drained straight but into the river or, during heavy rains or floods, overflowed into the streets. Thus, what was installed to create a hygienic environment in the French city became the cause of the plague. The large sewers in the modern part of the city, a symbol of modernity, were an ideal and protected breeding ground for the rats. The sewers also served as a great transport system, allowing the rats to move around the city without any problem. And rats began to enter the well-cared homes of the French through the sewage pipes

Leave a comment

Close

Click here to get exam-ready with eSaral

For making your preparation journey smoother of JEE, NEET and Class 8 to 10, grab our app now.

Download Now