Provide the best solution for students to go to school

Classrooms at the new school in Pho Nam village (Hoa Vang, Da Nang ) are fully equipped with facilities for students to study.

Building a new school helps children learn better

Implementing the policy of the City Party Committee and the People's Committee of Da Nang City, the Departmentof Education of Hoa Vang District has reviewed, evaluated, and consolidated separate schools with the goal of organizing teaching, better management, and improving the quality of learning. From 2018 to present, Hoa Vang District has implemented the policy, consolidating 30 schools at preschool and primary levels. In the 2023-2024 school year, the district will consolidate the schools of Hoa Bac Primary School, including merging the Nam Yen village school to the main school in Pho Nam village, because according to the assessment of Hoa Vang district, the Nam Yen village school often floods during the rainy season, some classrooms that have been built for many years are deteriorating, there is a lack of foreign language and computer science classrooms, there is no kitchen so cooked food must be transported from Pho Nam, causing food safety risks... If the children continue to study at this school, the facilities, equipment, and teaching aids will not be guaranteed, affecting the quality of local education as well as the implementation of the 2018 General Education Program.

The People's Committee of Hoa Vang district has invested in the construction and put into use the Pho Nam village school in the 2023-2024 school year with 10 classrooms, a multi-purpose lobby, a restroom, a fire prevention and fighting system and machinery and equipment for teaching and learning. According to the plan, students from Nam Yen, Nam My, An Dinh and Loc My village schools will all be transferred to the Pho Nam village school to study. The investment at the main Pho Nam school is in line with the general development plan of Hoa Bac commune, ensuring the rights of students, because this is the central area of the commune, with convenient traffic routes. The distance from Nam Yen school to Pho Nam school is 1.7 km, and the farthest distance to the main Hoa Bac Primary School is 3 km, so it is not too difficult for parents to pick up and drop off their children, without violating the regulations on the distance between schools according to the Primary School Charter.

However, dozens of parents disagreed and did not send their children to the main school in Pho Nam village to study. Ms. Ho Tr. (a parent) admitted that although she knew the learning conditions at the new school were very good, her family could not take her children to and from school because they still had to go to work. "I request that the school in Nam Yen continue to be maintained. If I still have to go to the new Hoa Bac school in Pho Nam village, I will let my children stay home from school," Ms. Ho Tr. declared . Many parents also said that their families did not have the conditions or time to take their children to and from school because most of them work as factory workers, and their children had to rely on their grandparents to go to school or they had to go to school themselves. If they went to the new school, it would be too far, and their grandparents would be too old to take them, and the children could not go by themselves because of potential dangers such as floods, storms, etc. In addition, even though the 4th and 5th graders could go to school by themselves, their families did not have the conditions to buy bicycles for them. In addition, businesses around Nam Yen school also objected because if students go to school far away, they will lose their source of income, affecting their livelihoods.

Support and create maximum conditions for students and people

Faced with the situation of students not being able to go to school in the new school year, the People's Committee of Hoa Vang district has urgently organized a dialogue with the people, to understand their thoughts and aspirations, and remove barriers to quickly send children to school. Secretary of Hoa Vang district To Van Hung said that the functional sector is ready to listen and support parents: "As the leader, I would like to reaffirm that what was said in this dialogue will be implemented. Parents must know how to sacrifice some of their personal interests to send their children to school, ensuring their right to education."

Referring to the shortcomings when students moved to new schools, Mr. Ho Tang Hoc, Head of Nam Yen village, said that the school merger took place in a short time, so parents were not mentally prepared. Although he knew that this was a good policy aimed at creating the necessary conditions for students to study in a better environment, Mr. Ho Tang Hoc still proposed "asking the government to invest in repairing Nam Yen school, because this is the oldest school with the largest number of students".

Regarding the opinion that "people were surprised" when the schools were merged, Mr. Nguyen Thuc Dung, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoa Vang district, said that it was not true, because the implementation of the merger at Hoa Bac Primary School had been announced to all voters in Nam Yen village and voters had also discussed with the commune government at the most recent voter meetings. The opinions of voters had been answered in writing, resolved and notified to the people by all levels. In August 2023, Hoa Bac Primary School and Hoa Bac commune held 2 meetings to propagate and mobilize parents in Nam Yen village to comply with the above policy, and the merger of schools in the district was divided according to a specific implementation roadmap.

“From that reality, if students continue to study at Nam Yen school, they will have limited access to an educational environment that ensures better facilities, equipment, and modern teaching aids, greatly affecting the quality of local education as well as the implementation of the 2018 Education Program. Therefore, merging Nam Yen village school to Pho Nam village is very appropriate, ensuring the rights of students,” Mr. Dung affirmed.

At the dialogue session, listening to the opinions of the people, Secretary of the Hoa Vang District Party Committee To Van Hung announced two options for parents to choose from: Option 1 is that parents agree to let their children study at Hoa Bac Primary School in Pho Nam village. Hoa Vang District will propose that the City send a working group including the Department of Construction and the Department of Education and Training to assess the physical conditions of the Nam Yen village school. If the results show that it is still possible to continue studying or invest in rebuilding, the district will include it in the implementation plan. If the working group confirms that it is not possible to continue maintaining the school and mobilize people to move students to the main school, the district will implement it. Option 2, students in grades 1, 2, and 3 will continue to study at the old school for another semester, and students in grades 4-5 will go to the main school to study. If this option is implemented, the district will organize 2 combined classes (combining students in grades 1-2 and grade 3). Although there are difficulties with teachers, the school will try to maintain it until the end of the first semester.

In addition, the Hoa Vang district government also provides the best support for people to choose, specifically: For students in grades 4 and 5, if their families are in difficult circumstances and cannot buy bicycles, the government will mobilize organizations to buy bicycles for them. The school will support and help with picking up and dropping off students, and managing students after school hours so that parents can work with peace of mind; there will be measures to ensure safety during the rainy and stormy season... At the same time, the district will review and support the livelihoods of families in difficult circumstances who trade and do business around Nam Yen school. Nam Yen school will be converted to serve the needs of people in the village or will be handed over to Hoa Bac Kindergarten at Nam Yen to expand the area. For students whose parents do not agree to go to school, the school will provide daily lesson content via Zalo group for parents to access and tutor their children at home. When the children go to school normally, there will be a plan for tutoring and supplementing knowledge.

After the dialogue with parents, the number of students attending Hoa Bac Primary School has increased. The head of the Department of Education and Training of Hoa Vang district said: “Some students have pink eye so their parents let them stay home. It is expected that all students will be able to go to school early this week. 13 students have been supported with bicycles; 2 students have been supported with funds to buy electric bicycles. Associations and unions will arrange for people to pick up and drop off 3 students with difficult circumstances, whose families are short of money and who cannot go to school by themselves. The district and locality have called for 13 bicycles and 37 million VND to support students to go to the new school. At the same time, the school also directed homeroom teachers to create a warm and friendly atmosphere to help students quickly integrate with their friends; proactively plan tutoring sessions so that students can grasp the knowledge learned in the past two weeks.

PEARL

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