Bringing students from flood and landslide areas back to school

The recent floods have caused severe damage to many localities in the central region. Heavy rains caused serious landslides, buried roads, submerged residential areas, and damaged many schools.

Teachers in Phuoc Chanh commune had to sit on the bucket of an excavator to cross the landslide to get to school. (Photo: ANH QUAN)

Overcoming difficulties, teachers and students in mountainous areas and flooded areas of Da Nang and Hue city are making efforts to quickly overcome damage and ensure teaching and learning activities.

The difficult way to school

After a weekend break with her family, on the day she returned to Nong Van Den Primary Boarding School and Xa Ro school in village 8, Tra Doc commune, teacher Nguyen Thi Hieu and four colleagues were surprised to see that the 40km-long DH8 route had been buried by landslides. It took Ms. Hieu and the other teachers more than an hour to cross the route to get to school.

“I have been teaching for seven years at Nong Van Den Primary Boarding School and Xa Ro school. Landslides also occurred in previous years, but the volume was small and concentrated in a few locations. If we had the help of parents to come down and build rocks and carry bikes, we could get through. This year, a whole hill collapsed, so we couldn’t carry motorbikes over. After more than an hour of crossing the mud at the landslide site, luckily the parents came down to pick us up. If we had walked, it would have taken us more than three and a half hours to get to school,” Ms. Hieu shared.

In Phuoc Chanh commune, in recent days, prolonged heavy rains have caused the DH1.PS road leading to Phuoc Chanh Secondary Boarding School to be cut off, with many serious landslides and rocks falling down, blocking the path. When receiving the notice for students to return to school, the school notified all staff and teachers to gather at one point to go to school together. After many efforts to overcome small landslides, when reaching the border between Phuoc Chanh commune and Phuoc Nang commune, the landslide was so large that it was impossible to wade through. It was necessary to rely on the excavator of the road construction unit to clear the road for staff and teachers to cross the cut-off road.

Vice Principal of Phuoc Chanh Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, Le Thi Thanh Nghi, said that more than 20 teachers, most of whom are women, did not hesitate to wade through mud, leading each other step by step through landslides at the foot of the mountain, crossing the cut-off roads with the determination to return to school. Each person's luggage included a few sets of clothes, notebooks, computers, and some dried fish to make ends meet for the students' meals during the days when supplies were not available.

Chairman of the People's Committee of Phuoc Chanh Commune, Le Dinh Tai, said that the commune has a school with three levels of education including kindergarten, primary school and secondary school, with more than 1,000 students, most of whom are ethnic minorities. Returning to school while the road was eroded, having to walk dozens of kilometers showed the sense of responsibility of the teachers. All of them are out of love for the students in the highlands, not letting them lack knowledge and making efforts to catch up with the study program.

In Hue city, after many days off due to floods, many schools in the central area and low-lying areas, suburban areas in Quang Dien, Huong Thuy, Huong Tra, Phu Vang... were flooded from 1 to 2 meters deep. Schools are urgently overcoming the consequences to welcome students back soon.

At Quang Trung Primary School in Thuan Hoa Ward, this is the fourth time teachers and staff have cleaned up the flood. Principal of Quang Trung Primary School Phan Thi Ngoc Quynh confided: "We are waiting for the water to recede, focusing on cleaning up to ensure all conditions are met to welcome students back to school."

As soon as the water began to recede, the local government, the Department of Education and Training of Hue City, along with the army, police, youth union members and local residents, simultaneously launched a clean-up operation. Thousands of people were mobilized to scoop up mud, wash tables and chairs, disinfect classrooms and restore electricity and water systems. Many teachers and parents personally dried books and rearranged tables and chairs with the hope that students would soon return to school.

Urgently bring students back to school

According to preliminary statistics from localities in Da Nang city, the total damage caused by the floods after storm No. 12 and storm No. 13 is estimated to be about 1,000 billion VND as of November 7. Of which, schools under the People's Committees of communes and wards suffered damage to facilities and equipment of about 12 billion VND; schools and centers under the Department suffered estimated damage of more than 2.8 billion VND. For example, at Tak Ngo school in village 1, Tra Linh commune, the school was severely damaged, forcing the school to move all teaching equipment and students to a safe place.

According to preliminary statistics from localities in Da Nang city, the total damage caused by the floods after storm No. 12 and storm No. 13 as of November 7 is estimated at about 1,000 billion VND. Of which, schools under the People's Committees of communes and wards suffered damage to facilities and equipment of about 12 billion VND; schools and centers under the Department suffered damage estimated at more than 2.8 billion VND.

According to Nguyen Tran Vy, Principal of Ngoc Linh Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, Tak Ngo is a school belonging to Ngoc Linh Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities. About 6 years ago, the school had two classrooms. In 2024, Nam Tra My district (old) allocated 500 million VND and from social mobilization sources, the school built more classrooms, teachers' housing, restrooms... with a total cost of more than 1.1 billion VND. By August 2025, the project was put into use, teaching 34 students of grades 1 and 2.

However, the recent flood caused severe damage to the entire school. “The school has arranged to bring all 34 students of Tak Ngo school back to the main school. The current difficulty is that the distance to school is quite far and the daily transportation during the peak of the rainy season is very difficult. This is a big concern for the school,” said Mr. Vy.

In Hue city, according to statistics as of November 7, the entire city still has 97/569 schools that cannot reopen due to flooding, damaged equipment, and inability to clean classrooms. It is estimated that 2,648 sets of textbooks, fire prevention systems, teaching equipment and materials have been damaged, fences have collapsed... with a total cost of over 18 billion VND.

Chairman of the Hue City People's Committee Phan Thien Dinh said that thanks to proactive and timely information, forecasting and warning work to schools, parents and residents, the city has responded effectively, limiting damage to people and property. The city has requested the education sector to implement the motto "where the water recedes, clean up there", urgently ensuring teaching and learning conditions, school safety, especially disease prevention after floods.

Article and photos: ANH QUAN, CONG HAU, DO VAN

Source: https://nhandan.vn/dua-hoc-sinh-vung-lu-lut-sat-lo-tro-lai-truong-post921549.html