Le Trung Kien High School devastated after flood, concerns for students' safety

Le Trung Kien High School, Hoa Xuan Commune, Dak Lak (Dong Hoa Town, former Phu Yen Province), is one of the high-quality schools in Phu Yen, located close to National Highway 1 but is no different from being in the "flood center". The entire school yard appears like a "battlefield" full of mud. The school yard is mottled, trees are uprooted, concrete fences are bent down, the cafeteria has collapsed. The concrete road in front of the gate was washed away by the flood, peeling off in pieces.

Today, November 24, when Thanh Nien reporters arrived at the school, teachers were raking mud in the classrooms on the lower floor. A teacher stopped in the middle of the class and exclaimed: "Everything on the lower floor is wet." At noon, the teachers shared lunch boxes from charity groups and continued raking mud.

Trường THPT Lê Trung Kiên tan hoang sau lũ, nỗi lo an toàn cho học sinh - Ảnh 1. — Inside Le Trung Kien High School yard is like a "battlefield"

On the first floor of the administrative area, Mr. Le Tan Dung, Principal of Le Trung Kien High School, told Thanh Nien reporters the horrifying story of the recent days of flooding. Pointing to the old, waterlogged files and report cards, Mr. Dung said that fortunately this year they used electronic report cards, and the damaged files were mostly from previous years. However, all the old files and report cards in the archive room on the first floor were damaged.

Trường THPT Lê Trung Kiên tan hoang sau lũ, nỗi lo an toàn cho học sinh - Ảnh 2. — Students' records and transcripts were soaked in water for two or three days.

The principal added that tomorrow (November 25), the Dak Lak Provincial Police force and the youth union of Thai Binh Duong University will come to help clean up, rake mud, and open a safe path to the main gate of the school so that students can return to class in the next few days.

Mr. Dung said that teachers and students at this school have just experienced "two consecutive floods". The previous time, due to storm No. 13, they had to take 3 days off school. With this historic flood, the school has been closed for a whole week, and it is not known when they will return to school. "Even though the school has been cleaned up, many students still do not have a place to live, their books have been washed away, their families are exhausted, and many students are in very difficult circumstances," said the principal.

Trường THPT Lê Trung Kiên tan hoang sau lũ, nỗi lo an toàn cho học sinh - Ảnh 3. — Teachers at Le Trung Kien High School shared charity lunch boxes to eat at school to continue cleaning up mud.

"The biggest concern right now is having a safe classroom for the students. We will call on all resources and benefactors to support the students to quickly stabilize and return to class. The school will also teach make-up classes so that the students can keep up with the program," said Mr. Dung, looking down at the muddy schoolyard, where just a week ago there was the laughter of students, and where the school placed a statue of the heroic martyr Le Trung Kien.

Trường THPT Lê Trung Kiên tan hoang sau lũ, nỗi lo an toàn cho học sinh - Ảnh 4. — Mr. Le Tan Dung, Principal of Le Trung Kien High School, does not know when he can bring students back to school.

The story of Le Trung Kien High School is not just about cleaning up mud after the flood, but also an urgent problem about the right to safe learning for thousands of students waiting for a day of peace to return in Hoa Xuan, the epicenter of the flood that has been painful for the people of Phu Yen for the past few days.