This research examines social, school, and household factors associated with children's school enrollment and dropout in Vietnam, paying special attention to the gender gap in schooling. Based on a theoretical framework that incorporates social, school, and household contexts, the empirical analyses start with a descriptive analysis of children's school status, then used a multilevel approach. The contextual factors used in the analysis relate to school availability, the affordability of schooling for households, and the willingness of households to support schooling. We argue that children can go to school only when there are "schools" of proper levels for them to attend, and households are able and willing to send them to school. The data used for the empirical analysis are from the Vietnam Living Standard Survey in 1992-93 and 1997-98.