Nghe An Department of Education and Training urgently directed the case of 140 students dropping out of school after school merger

On the afternoon of September 11, speaking with VietNamNet reporters, the leader of the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An province said that as of this morning, 140 students of Trung Phuc Cuong 2 Primary School (Thien Nhan Commune) had not yet come to class to protest the school merger. In response to this incident, the Department has issued a document temporarily suspending the merger of Trung Phuc Cuong 2 Primary School.

According to a representative of the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An province, the merger was temporarily suspended to prepare conditions and facilities to ensure students could go to school. "The school merger is in line with the policy, however, we have to temporarily suspend it and continue to promote and mobilize parents to agree," said the leader of the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An.

According to the leader of the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An province, parents opposed the school merger because they thought the main school was far from home and that it would be unsafe for students to go to school. However, in reality, the school was only about 1.5km from the students' homes.

Parents let their children stay home from school to protest the school merger. Photo: T. Luong

"Every parent wants their children to go to school near home, however, the facilities at satellite schools cannot be guaranteed as well as at the main school. For students, the immediate benefit is being able to go to school nearby, however in the long run, studying at the main school will be better. We will continue to advocate so that parents can see the long-term benefits of their children studying at the main school.

Having many separate schools, close to each other, makes investment and arrangement of facilities much more difficult than merging," added the leader of the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An province.

Previously, in the past 3 days, hundreds of parents brought their children to Branch 2, Trung Phuc Cuong 2 Primary School, Thien Nhan Commune (Nghe An Province) to request the local authorities and the school to open classrooms for students to attend. Parents protested against the merger of Branch 2 (spare location) into Branch 1 (main location) of Trung Phuc Cuong 2 Primary School.

Main points of Trung Phuc Cuong 2 Primary School. Photo: T.Luong

Hundreds of parents sent petitions to the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Education and Training, the Thien Nhan commune government and the school board expressing their concerns about sending their children to school.

Mr. Vo Dinh Dong (75 years old) said that the students are still young and need their parents and grandparents to take them to school. While the parents work far away, the grandparents are old and weak and do not have time to take the children to school.

"Our wish is to keep this school to ensure the safety of the children. The road from the old Nam Phuc commune to branch 1 has a traffic intersection with many trucks running, traffic accidents often occur, so it is very risky for the children to go through. We are not comfortable when the children go to school through this road," said Mr. Dong.

Ms. Le Thi Lan, Principal of Trung Phuc Cuong 2 Primary School, said that after the opening ceremony, many students at remote locations were absent from school in recent days, with 136 out of 196 students absent during the morning class on September 10 alone. In the 2025-2026 school year, Trung Phuc Cuong 2 Primary School has 19 classrooms with 670 students.

According to Ms. Lan, the distance between the two schools is only about 1km, convenient for students and teachers to travel.

"The school has 29 teachers and staff. If we separate the two teaching locations, we will not ensure time, disperse teaching and learning, and overlap the timetable," said the principal of Phuc Cuong 2 Primary School.

According to the leader of Thien Nhan Commune People's Committee, the signing of the notice on the unification of the merger of the separate schools into the main school is based on the conclusion of the Standing Committee of the Commune Party Committee to improve the quality of teaching and learning, focus on investment and effective use of resources so that students can study in a concentrated environment, with better equipment and facilities.

The names of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang Specialized High Schools will remain the same after the merger . Bac Ninh and Bac Giang Specialized High Schools will keep their names as before the merger, instead of being changed to Bac Ninh Specialized High Schools No. 1 and No. 2.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/so-gd-dt-nghe-an-chi-dao-nong-vu-140-hoc-sinh-nghi-hoc-khi-sap-nhap-truong-2441604.html