Nghe An: Efforts to overcome flood consequences, ready for new school year

(Chinhphu.vn) - Nghe An is one of the localities heavily affected by storm No. 3, with prolonged heavy rain causing landslides and severe flooding, damaging many schools, affecting the safety and learning of thousands of students and teachers. As soon as the flood receded, the local education sector quickly implemented remedial measures, making efforts to ensure that students could return to school safely, ready for the new school year 2025-2026.

Director of the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An province Thai Van Thanh (fourth from left) visits, encourages and gives gifts to support affected schools in Muong Xen commune, Nghe An province - Photo: VGP

56 schools affected, more than 130 billion VND in damage

Speaking to the Government Electronic Newspaper, Mr. Thai Van Thanh, Director of the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An province, said that storm No. 3 caused serious damage to 56 schools in the area. In particular, schools located in remote areas were most severely affected, such as My Ly 2 Primary School, Bac Ly 2, Muong Tip 2 Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, Luu Kien Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities and Xa Luong Secondary School.

Specifically, 244 classrooms and 61 functional rooms are damaged and need to be repaired; 15 classrooms and 80 functional rooms need to be rebuilt. In addition, 55 dormitories for semi-boarding students, 18 dining halls and kitchens need to be repaired; 44 dormitories and 9 dining halls need to be newly built.

Teaching equipment was also seriously affected: 1,780 sets of student desks and chairs and 203 sets of teacher desks and chairs were swept away by water; 197 computers, 125 sets of foreign language teaching equipment, 74 sets of outdoor toys and 540 sets of teaching equipment were damaged by flooding.

Over 30,000m³ of mud and rock flooded into the school grounds and boarding houses and needed to be treated. Over 3,000m of fences and slopes were eroded and collapsed. In addition, 527 families of staff and teachers were affected, of which 41 families had their houses sunk or completely washed away, 486 families had their houses flooded or their property washed away. The estimated material damage was over 130 billion VND.

Storm No. 3 and floods have caused serious damage to 56 schools in Nghe An province.

Flood recovery work

Immediately after the flood receded, Nghe An education sector proactively coordinated with local authorities, armed forces and people to carry out disaster recovery work.

"More than 1,000 young cadres and teachers from high schools were mobilized to volunteer to go to mountainous schools, coordinate with soldiers, police, militia and people to dredge mud and soil, renovate schools, medical stations, village roads, and help people clean up their belongings and houses," Mr. Thai Van Thanh shared.

The education sector has also coordinated with the government, publishers and businesses to support more than 2,000 sets of textbooks, notebooks, pens and learning tools for affected students; 500 million VND has been transferred to Bac Ly kindergarten to build new classrooms; more than 3 billion VND has been mobilized within the sector to support repairs and purchase of tables, chairs, boards, televisions, etc.

Teachers whose houses were washed away or collapsed were supported with 10 million VND/person; teachers whose houses were flooded or lost property were supported with 5 million VND/person. This support is not only material but also demonstrates the spirit of mutual support and love of the education sector.

After the floodwaters receded, teachers, soldiers, police, militia and local people urgently dredged mud, cleaned and renovated schools to soon return to normal teaching and learning activities.

Determined to overcome difficulties, ready for the new school year

Despite taking the initiative to take action immediately after the storm, Nghe An's education sector is still struggling with numerous difficulties, especially in remote mountainous districts - where transport infrastructure is poor, terrain is difficult, and continuous rain and floods cause separation and destruction of schools.

"There are schools where, in order to bring materials in for repair, we have to carry bags of cement and bricks through forests, wade through streams, walk for hours or use boats to cross rivers. Many schools were completely swept away by floods and cannot be restored in a short time, so we have to let students study temporarily in people's houses or village cultural houses. The lives of the people here are already difficult, with unstable incomes, so support for their children to go to school is very limited. Meanwhile, the new school year is approaching," Mr. Thai Van Thanh could not hide his concern.

Not standing still in the face of challenges, the provincial education sector is resolutely implementing many synchronous solutions to both ensure safety and maintain the quality of education. The Department of Education and Training has directed schools to urgently review the situation of students, books, and school supplies, with special priority given to supporting each child and each family severely affected by natural disasters.

The opening ceremony of the new school year 2025-2026 will also be held in the spirit of "concise, light, solemn and enthusiastic", in accordance with the direction of the Government and the Ministry of Education and Training.

In addition, 50 billion VND from the Central and Provincial support sources has been promptly disbursed to repair and rebuild damaged schools. Another important project is My Ly 2 Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Xang Tren village), which is also being supported by the Ministry of Public Security with an investment of 50 billion VND.

"In particular, the Department has established five professional clusters to support disadvantaged areas throughout the school year. From the opening ceremony to testing and quality assessment - all are aimed at ensuring that no student is left behind," Mr. Thanh emphasized.

Faith, sharing and hope

Although the natural disaster left serious consequences, what warmed the hearts of teachers and students in the mountainous region of Nghe An was the timely and close attention of the Party, State, provincial leaders, and the kind support from everywhere.

Director of the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An province Thai Van Thanh emotionally shared: "In the past few days, we have truly felt the spirit of national solidarity, the spirit of teachers' mutual love and support. The contributions of businesses, philanthropists, and teachers inside and outside the province are a great motivation for the education sector of Nghe An to overcome difficulties and be ready for the new school year with the highest spirit and determination."

Not only stopping at overcoming the consequences of natural disasters, Nghe An education sector also considers this an opportunity to re-evaluate the current state of facilities, thereby building a systematic and long-term investment plan for the school system, especially in particularly difficult areas.

Along with that, a comprehensive review of textbooks, equipment, and learning materials will be carried out before August 25 to promptly handle any shortages. From August 25 to September 1, the Department will continue to conduct field inspections at schools with limited resources, ensuring that all conditions are completed before the start of the new school year.

Son Hao

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/nghe-an-no-luc-khac-phuc-hau-qua-mua-lu-san-sang-cho-nam-hoc-moi-102250819134550684.htm