Parents protest school merger, dozens of students unable to attend classes.

On the afternoon of September 6th, the Hoa Vang District Party Committee, the Hoa Vang District People's Committee, and the Hoa Bac Commune People's Committee ( Da Nang City) held a dialogue with parents in Nam Yen village after many parents refused to allow their children to attend the newly built, spacious school, which fully meets the teaching and learning requirements of students.

Only one parent attended the dialogue session; many others either did not come or refused to accept the invitation to participate.

More than 50 students were unable to attend school.

Reporting at the dialogue session, the leader of Hoa Bac Primary School stated that, two days after the opening ceremony, more than 50 students were not allowed to attend school by their parents. All of these children are from Nam Yen village. The reason parents are not sending their children to the new school is because it is… too far. They demand that the old school building be reopened before they will allow their children to return to school.

“ The school has tried to persuade the parents, but they disagree. I sincerely hope that the authorities will intervene so that the children can attend school and keep up with the curriculum ,” said the leader of Hoa Bac school.

The newly built Hoa Bac Primary School is spacious and well-equipped, fully meeting the needs of teaching and learning.

According to Mr. Nguyen Thuc Dung, Vice Chairman of the Hoa Vang District People's Committee, in implementing the policy of the Da Nang City Party Committee and People's Committee, the district's education sector has recently reviewed and evaluated scattered schools with the goal of better organizing teaching and management, and improving the quality of learning.

“ Hoa Vang District has been consolidating scattered school branches into main school locations for the past 10 years. When investing in building new schools and classrooms, we can meet the teaching equipment requirements of the 2018 general education program ,” Mr. Dung said.

Mr. Dung stated that the city invested in building the main campus of Hoa Bac Primary School to bring students from the outlying school branches to the main school, facilitating better and higher-quality teaching.

The school in Pho Nam village has been completed, consolidating the scattered schools from Nam Yen, An Dinh, Loc My, and Nam My villages into the new school. This is a consistent policy, and the residents of An Dinh and Loc My villages are complying well. However, the residents of Nam Yen village disagree and are not sending their children to school.

Regarding the concerns of many people, such as: "Why not build the school in Nam Yen village instead of Pho Nam village?", a representative of the Hoa Vang District People's Committee stated that the construction had been thoroughly researched and was in accordance with the pre-existing planning.

Regarding the opinion that some vendors in front of the old school site have lost their income and therefore disagree with sending their children to the new school, the leaders of Hoa Vang District People's Committee affirmed that this is only one of the reasons and the government will have a plan to provide support.

" People are unable to conduct business and are facing economic difficulties when students transfer to new schools. The government affirms that it will provide support and ensure no one is left behind, " said the Vice Chairman of the Hoa Vang District People's Committee.

Mr. To Van Hung, Secretary of Hoa Vang District, shared his views at the dialogue session.

'Parents are taking away their children's right to education.'

Sharing information at the dialogue session, Mr. To Van Hung, Secretary of the Hoa Vang District Party Committee, affirmed that the policy of merging small, unqualified schools into the main school is a correct one. From a professional perspective, choosing Pho Nam village to build a large-scale school is appropriate.

In the general planning of Hoa Bac commune, Pho Nam village is the center of the commune and has received investment from the city to ensure adequate infrastructure. In addition, the merger aims to provide the best possible educational opportunities for children.

Mr. Hung said that he himself had visited the homes of several parents in Nam Yen village (parents who did not send their children to the new school in Pho Nam village) to listen to their concerns and wishes. The people of Nam Yen village argued that the new school was too far away, and many of them were factory workers who had to leave early and return late, making it inconvenient to pick up and drop off their children, thus making it unreasonable for them not to send their children to school.

“ I went to the school in person, turned on the odometer to measure the distance, and the furthest house from the school was only about 2km, so saying it's far is unconvincing. As for the issue of having to leave early and return late for work, making it inconvenient for dropping off and picking up children, parents need to reconsider. The route parents take to work also passes by the new school, so it's convenient. Parents cannot use that reason to take away their children's right to education ,” Mr. Hung said.

Authorities are prepared to request that schools open early to welcome students and supervise them when parents return home late from work.

The old Hoa Bac Primary School building is dilapidated and does not meet the requirements for teaching and learning.

“ If a fifth-grade student comes from a disadvantaged family, I am willing to appeal to benefactors to donate electric bicycles so that the children can start school sooner. It's all for the students; I hope parents realize what is right and send their children to school as soon as possible. The authorities must encourage parents to send their children to school ,” Mr. Hung said.

During the dialogue, the leaders of Hoa Vang district also instructed the local authorities of Hoa Bac commune to continue mobilizing and educating the people so that they understand the correct and humane policy.

Earlier, during the opening ceremony of the new school year, parents in Nam Yen village did not send their children to the new school but instead organized a protest by taking them to the old school site. The incident was later photographed and posted on social media, with some people claiming that the authorities did not care about the students, and that the opening ceremony only involved parents and students, with no teachers present.

CHAU THU

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