Teachers and students in the Central region recover after the flood

lũ dữ - Ảnh 1. — Teachers of Gia Hoi High School (Phu Xuan Ward, Hue City) join hands to clean up mud at school after the flood - Photo: N.LINH

After the flood, teachers and students in the Central region got up together to clean up the mud and wash their books so that their education would not be interrupted.

Chaos after the flood

At noon on November 1, many teachers in flooded schools in Da Nang City were busy cleaning up mud to welcome students back to class. Everything was a mess of rubbish and mud.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Ha, Secretary of the Party Committee of An Thang Ward, said that in the whole ward, only a few schools located at high points were not flooded, the remaining low-lying schools were flooded 1-2 meters deep. On November 1, all forces were prioritized to go to schools to clear the flood, determined to welcome students back from the beginning of next week.

At Nguyen Trai Primary School in An Thang Ward, the schoolyard and classrooms were gradually exposed under mud. Dozens of police officers were mobilized from various units to gather at the school along with teachers and staff to spray off mud and dry each set of desks and chairs to welcome students back from the beginning of next week.

Ms. Phan Thi Thu Huong, the school principal, said that the recent flood submerged the school nearly 2 meters deep. This is the deepest flooded area in An Thang ward. According to Ms. Huong, thanks to proactively moving furniture and equipment, the damage was mainly wet tables, chairs, and some small equipment. Even in the flood, teachers and school staff waded in the water to raise the furniture.

From October 31, as soon as the water receded, the school mobilized all teachers to gather at the school to clean up their belongings, trying to welcome students early next week.

Not only the school, many teachers in the area also had their houses deeply flooded. Some teachers' houses were flooded up to the roof, their family members had to climb onto the roof to take shelter and wait for rescue forces. Nguyen Trai School has more than 300 students, most of their houses are in flooded areas, currently communication is still not available so the school cannot count the damage from the families.

At Dien Thang Nam Kindergarten, the school grounds were also covered in mud. A layer of silver mud covered all the classrooms and playgrounds. Since the morning of November 1, teachers were mobilized along with soldiers and police to clean up. Due to the lack of electricity, the school had to use generators and bring electricity from other places to run pumps to draw water from the river to spray the grounds.

Standing in front of the playground, where every teaching equipment for children was covered in mud, Ms. Ha Thi Minh Tam, the school principal, said that out of three schools, two were deeply submerged in the flood. Currently, many school supplies were damaged and submerged in mud and would take many days to clean up.

85% of schools in Hue reopen

Mr. Le Thanh Son, principal of Ly Thuong Kiet Primary School (Thuan Hoa Ward, Hue City), said that teachers are rushing to clean up to welcome students back soon.

"Many students suffered heavy losses, their books and school supplies were all damaged. The school is making a list and hopes to receive more support so that the students can soon stabilize their studies," said Mr. Son.

According to statistics from the Department of Education and Training of Hue City, there were over 100 educational institutions whose classrooms were flooded during the recent historic flood.

Over 40 educational institutions reported major damage to facilities and teaching equipment such as: collapsed fences, dozens of televisions in classrooms submerged in water, school amplifiers and sound systems, boarding equipment, broken school gates, water-soaked tables and chairs, disabled toilets... estimated at over 10 billion VND.

The Hue City Education Department also recorded many sad news in the recent flood when two primary school students and a kindergarten child died in the fierce flood.

Mr. Nguyen Tan, Director of the Department of Education and Training of Hue City, said that there are 569 schools and educational establishments in the area. As of November 1, more than 85% of schools had organized for students to return to school.

"This is an effort by the city's education sector when schools, along with the government, army and police, have mobilized maximum forces to clean up classrooms. Many schools, despite being deeply flooded, have made efforts to preserve their facilities and minimize damage caused by floods," said Mr. Tan.

However, currently in Hue city, there are still many schools that cannot let students go to school due to deep flooding in Quang Dien commune, Hoa Chau ward... because the water is still rising and the flooding is forecast to last longer.

For these schools, the department said that they will conduct online teaching for students. For students who cannot study online because their families are still without electricity, the school will arrange for teachers to teach them to make up for the lessons after they return to school, ensuring that they do not miss out on knowledge due to the floods.

Can't recognize my house

The recent flood swept away much of the property of Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Hien’s family in Thuan Hoa Ward, Hue City. The small house where four generations lived together now has only mud and piles of wet belongings.

"When the water rose, we had two small children in the house. My grandparents were old and my husband was sick. We could only carry each other to escape the flood. We were happy to be able to save our loved ones," Ms. Hien choked up.

After the flood, she returned home and could no longer recognize her house. Her two children’s books, desks, school bags, and pencil cases were all covered in mud. One of her two children is in first grade and the other is in fourth grade at Ly Thuong Kiet Primary School.

After the flood, the two children sat quietly picking up each page of their notebook, trying to open it to the sun, their eyes filled with tears as if regretting each word. Seeing that scene, Ms. Hien could only hug her children and comfort them.

Damage cannot be estimated yet

On November 1, at all schools along the Thu Bon River in the areas of Hoi An, Dien Ban, Duy Xuyen... everywhere, classrooms were seen in disarray after the flood. Ward leaders said that due to lack of information and lack of electricity in many places, information about students whose houses were damaged and books were wet could not be counted.

Universities provide financial aid to students

Thầy trò miền Trung gượng dậy sau lũ dữ - Ảnh 2. — Books of students at Quang Trung Primary School (Hue City) are soaked in mud - Photo: CHAU SA

Due to the impact of the historic flood, many universities in Hue City have announced giving money to students.

On November 2, Dr. Truong Tan Quan - Principal of the University of Economics (Hue University) - said that the school has just announced a donation of support money to all lecturers and students of the school due to the impact of recent floods.

Accordingly, each student of the school was given 100,000 VND, each lecturer and employee of the school was given 500,000 VND.

About 9,000 students and 300 school staff will receive financial support this time, with a total cost of more than 1.1 billion VND.

In addition, the school will continue to survey and have special support policies for those severely affected by the recent floods.

"This is a small gift that the school sends to its students and workers to encourage everyone to overcome natural disasters and rebuild their lives after the floods," said Mr. Quan.

In addition to the University of Economics, the University of Foreign Languages (Hue University) also decided to support each student of the school with 200,000 VND to encourage them to overcome difficulties after the natural disaster. This amount will be transferred to each student by the school before November 5.