A preschool on Cu Lao Cham (Cham Island) in Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam is facing a situation where the number of students is falling while the number of wild monkeys invading and rampaging the school is increasing.

It takes some 20 minutes to travel from the famed Hoi An City to Cu Lao Cham, where the 1,000-square-meter-large Tan Hiep Preschool is located.

The school has 12 classrooms and 57 students.

Le Thi Bich Lien, principal of Tan Hiep Preschool, said teachers had to concurrently take care of the children and keep an eye on the monkeys.

If they are slightly heedless, the animals will damage the school's furniture and their belongings.

Lien added that the school is located at the foot of a mountain where the monkeys often hunt for their food.

They have become an obsession that teachers and security guards at the school have found it hard to deal with.

The monkeys come almost every day, usually at the children’s lunchtime, 3:00 pm when the children drink milk, and 5:00 pm when the school finishes.

Whenever they smell milk and food, they immediately rush to the school, Lien informed.

She added that food, milk, and sugar are always available at the school.

Monkeys are quick to find food, so the school is a favorite destination of the apes.

Teachers have to chase the monkeys away. When they hear rustling and rattling sounds at the edge of the forest, they will rush to close all doors.

Some teachers embrace children, while some others use utensils to make loud sounds to chase the monkeys away.

Security guards also help to drive the monkeys from the school.

Lien said that they were like living together with monkeys. They could do nothing to prevent the monkeys from damaging utensils.

Cu Lao Cham is currently home to 2,000 residents and Tan Hiep Preschool is the only preschool on the island.

Many islanders are also tired of the wild monkeys. They damage fruit and vegetable gardens, and steal food from small temples of local residents.

According to Tran Thi Phuong Thao, an official of the Management Board of Cu Lao Cham Marine Protected Area, the evasion of mischievous monkeys of residential areas and schools is a hard-to-deal-with issue.

“We receive complaints about the rampaging monkeys almost every day," Thao added.

“Local residents reported that the number of monkeys is increasing but there has not been an accurate figure.”

As Cu Lao Cham is a world biosphere reserve, residents do not do harm to the monkeys, Thao noted.

“We recommend tourists and local residents not to feed the monkeys, come in contact with them, and expose furniture, fruits, or food," she said.

“In other words, food sources must be cut down to force the monkeys to hunt for food in nature."

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