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| There needs to be space for children to play safely during the summer. Photo: HL |
With the tightening of management on extra teaching and learning, this year children have a full 3-month summer vacation. However, parents in the city face the worry of finding playgrounds for their children, otherwise they will be “locked” within 4 walls and befriended by televisions and phones.
deadlock
According to the school year program framework, by May 31, students at all levels nationwide will finish the 2024-2025 school year and enter a 3-month summer vacation. Before this year's summer vacation, leaders of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training directed schools to absolutely not teach extra classes, study extra classes, or teach the program ahead of schedule. For primary, secondary and high schools, as soon as the school year ends, schools will proactively coordinate with the Youth Union and the Pioneer Council to develop an activity plan and organize the handover of students to summer activities in their localities.
“Right after the summer vacation officially started, the teacher sent the children back to their parents, back to the summer. This year, the teacher will not teach extra classes, so the children will have a full 3-month summer vacation,” said Ms. Tran Ngoc Anh (in Cau Giay district, Hanoi), who has 2 children in primary school.
Anh and her husband have an older child who has just finished 5th grade and a younger child who has just finished 2nd grade. She is currently very confused and does not know how to arrange and manage the summer vacation of her two children. Both husband and wife still have to go to work, the work is stressful, and they cannot take turns taking time off to look after the children. For now, she will leave her two children at home to look after each other and the mother will prepare lunch. The house has a camera installed so that she can occasionally keep an eye on her children while working, but she is still not at ease because she is worried about the children being naughty and the risk of accidents and injuries.
What Ms. Anh worries about more is that her children watch TV all day at home. “In our own house, when we step out of the door, there are many cars passing by, which is not safe. There is no playground around the house, so the children feel very stuffy. My husband and I have not found any solution for our children to play safely,” Ms. Anh shared.
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| Children who want to play soccer in the summer have to rent fields from businesses. Photo: HL |
Expensive
Ms. Anh, like many other parents, when her children were about to finish the school year, went looking for summer experience classes. The centers invited and welcomed parents to take all kinds of courses such as: Military semester, summer retreat, experience class, skill class, summer camp program... in and outside the country with diverse content and programs. The classes cost from several million to hundreds of millions of VND for parents to choose from. However, summer camp programs only last from 5 days to 2-3 weeks and the longer the duration, the higher the price, not all families can afford to choose.
Ms. Le Ngoc Mai, whose child is in grade 3 at a private school in Hanoi, shared that the school sent a notice about organizing a summer camp for her child, but the price was "sky-high". A 6-day summer camp in Singapore costs 29 million VND or a 5-day camp in Japan costs 39 million VND, but the family does not have the budget to participate. She is considering a 1-week domestic summer camp program, which costs nearly 7 million VND. However, the program includes swimming activities, which makes her worried about the safety level, so she has not paid the fee.
Not wanting to send her children back to their grandparents' house, and not knowing what activities to let them participate in, Mai temporarily chose to hire a maid to come to her house to look after the children and cook while her parents went to work. But if she assigned the maid to do the work and locked her children in the house all summer, she would feel guilty towards her children.
Not only Ms. Mai, many parents are confused, not knowing how to plan a summer vacation for their children so that they can have a meaningful vacation, recharging their energy after a long school year. Many parents expressed concern that summer will be the time when addiction to electronic devices and games increases.
“Parents still have to go to work, children at home do not know what to do, they watch TV, play games, that is very difficult to prevent. Near my house there is a soccer field but it is privately owned, children who want to play must have a group and pay to rent the field. I hope that where I live, there are many playgrounds so that children can ride bicycles, play soccer, play badminton... freely, comfortably and safely,” said Mr. Minh in Ha Dong district (Hanoi), whose child is in secondary school.
“Students lack playgrounds and really want to participate in summer activities, but when the school organizes clubs, not many students sign up. The reason is that the club activities are only limited to about 2 hours/day, and parents cannot afford to pick them up. Therefore, some children will return to their hometowns or participate in outside programs that are organized all day.”
Ms. Nguyen Thi Linh Chi,
Principal of Kim Lien Primary School, Dong Da District (Hanoi)
For a meaningful summer
Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thanh Nam, Vice Principal of the University of Education (VNU Hanoi) said that the new point this year is that the Ministry of Education and Training applies Circular 29, which more strictly manages extra teaching and learning, so extra learning will not be as widespread as before. The centers launch many programs and summer experience courses, making parents even more confused because they do not know which unit is quality and trustworthy.
Recently, there have been parents who have been deceived when registering for summer camp programs or parents who have complained about units that "advertise sheep's heads but sell dog meat". The program advertises 5 stars but in reality only 2-3 stars. According to Associate Professor Nam, it is necessary to strengthen the management of units providing life skillseducation services, in which the program must be censored; the staff must be trained to have knowledge and skills to manage and guide students as well as ensure the safety of children.
Even the management agency needs to build a digital database to publish information about units and companies providing services on educational programs and summer experiences so that parents know, and at the same time have an address to give feedback on service quality. Many units build programs focusing on strange and challenging activities to attract parents and students. Many places hire employees to participate as cheerleaders, without knowledge or pedagogical skills.
Associate Professor Nam said that Hanoi has nearly 3,000 schools of all levels with nearly 2.3 million students, a very large number. During summer vacation, students need a space to live and play right where they live, but in the wards there is currently a serious lack of playgrounds. High-rise apartments and houses are close together, but there are not many free playgrounds. A real problem is that many schools and safe spaces where children can play during the summer vacation are closed. Many schools have swimming pools but they are not operating while parents send their children to expensive service providers, which not everyone can afford.
According to Associate Professor Nam, management agencies need to calculate and allocate land to create free playgrounds for children in residential areas. At the same time, the education sector should pay attention and guide schools to open gates and create mechanisms to organize football, basketball, martial arts, drawing, musical instruments, singing clubs, etc. right in schools for students to participate in. This is a safe environment, teachers teach clubs with reasonable prices, ensuring quality and easy management.
To have a meaningful summer, parents should work with their children to build a program framework. For example, right after the end of the school year, children have 1-2 weeks to completely rest and relax. After that, parents should find a reputable place for their children to participate in sports activities, soft skills activities, talent development, etc. At the end of the summer vacation, students need to spend about 1-2 weeks practicing discipline such as waking up early, studying, and preparing for the new school year.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Linh Chi, Principal of Kim Lien Primary School, Dong Da District (Hanoi) said that before the summer vacation, the school informed all parents about participating in summer activities at the school. Specifically, the school library is open three times a week for students to read books. In addition, the school organizes clubs for football, basketball, chess, modern dance, STEM, etc. for parents who are interested to register to participate.
Source: https://tienphong.vn/tra-lai-khoang-troi-cho-tre-tho-bai-1-don-dao-tim-cho-cho-cho-con-post1749469.tpo
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