Every day at 4:30 p.m., Mr. Phung Quang Khai (born in 1980, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi ) hurriedly moves from his workplace to the gate of Nguyen Trai Primary School, finds a good spot, parks his car and waits to pick up his child after school. His child's school is located on a small street with a lot of traffic, so he has to arrive early to choose a spot that is easy to drive in and out.
Although the school always coordinates with authorities to regulate traffic during rush hour, traffic jams and chaos still occur every day.
"The house is less than 3km from school, but every day my father and I struggle to get there. Some days it takes about 20 minutes in the morning, and some days it takes nearly an hour in traffic jams," said Mr. Khai.
According to Mr. Khai, the cause of the school gate congestion stems from the inadequacy between the need to pick up and drop off children to school and the traffic infrastructure at the school gate. Along with that, the traffic culture awareness of students and many parents is still limited, the situation of stopping and parking cars haphazardly on the sidewalk and road is quite common.
The number of ward police officers involved in traffic support is still small, not enough to monitor and impose fines every day. Therefore, traffic around the school gate is always congested, making many parents worried every time they pick up and drop off.
Parents are fed up with having to pick up their children after school. (Photo: Hieu Lam)
Due to the nature of their work, Phan Hoa (born in 1984, Ha Dong, Hanoi) and her husband cannot arrange to come home early to pick up their children every day. At first, she often told her children to wait in the school yard after school, waiting for her mother to come pick them up after work, but she was always in a state of anxiety every time school ended.
"Many times when I went to pick up my child, I saw him playing with friends at the school gate, while many vehicles were passing by, making it chaotic and unsafe," she said.
To ensure the safety of their child, the couple agreed to spend 3 million VND per month to hire a motorbike taxi driver at the entrance of the alley. This decision helped her save 2 hours per day by not having to travel from work to her child's school and vice versa.
The images of cars lining up one after another, inching forward, motorbikes parked everywhere from the road to the sidewalk, and students weaving through the busy traffic every school hour make Ms. Hoa and many parents feel tired.
According to statistics, Hanoi city currently has a total of 152 school gate locations in a state of traffic congestion and safety risks every school hour. Of which, 108 locations are in the inner city and 44 locations are in the suburbs.
To overcome this situation, some schools are applying a new safe school gate model with good results. Nguyen Du Primary School (Ha Dong District) coordinated with the district authorities to arrange traffic flow and create separate walkways for students. This school is located right on the road next to the intersection with Van Quan Lake, where vehicles often pass by.
The gate area of Nguyen Du Primary School (Ha Dong) after applying lane separation. (Photo: Hieu Lam)
The safe school gate model is supported by many parents, who believe that picking up and dropping off their children at school is more convenient and safer.
Not only parents, but students are also happier since the school gate has lanes and areas reserved for them. Do Trong Tam (student of Nguyen Du Primary School) shared that since the new model was introduced, he feels secure going home alone after school, no longer afraid of crossing the street like before.
In addition to Nguyen Du Primary School (Ha Dong District), there are currently Xuan Dinh Primary - Secondary - High School (Bac Tu Liem District) and Sai Son Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary School (Quoc Oai District) that are successfully applying this model.
Mr. Ta Duc Giang, Deputy Chief of Office of the Hanoi Traffic Safety Committee, assessed that the lane separation model in front of school gates in densely populated areas has been initially successfully applied in a number ofeducational institutions. It is expected that after the pilot period, domestic and international experts will evaluate the results, make appropriate adjustments, and consider replicating the model in the city.
The safe school model is applied at Nguyen Du Primary School.
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