Plaster from ceiling of Hanoi classroom falls off in pieces, parents worry about their children staying home from school

Sharing with VietNamNet reporter, Mr. NVM, a parent whose child studies at Thanh Quan Secondary School (Hoan Kiem, Hanoi ) said that since the beginning of April 2025, due to the school's construction and renovation, all students have been transferred to a temporary learning location at 40 Thanh Ha. However, the facilities here have degraded and are not suitable for teaching and learning.

For example, the classroom blackboard suddenly fell down, and large pieces of plaster from the ceiling fell off. On April 18, a student of class 7A3 had his leg hit by plaster from the ceiling and had to wear a cast. In addition, the classrooms often had power outages, sometimes up to 20 times a day, even though the air conditioner was not turned on...

Plaster from the ceiling of a classroom in Hanoi fell off in chunks. *Photo: PHCC*

Mr. M said that the parents were very worried and had asked the homeroom teacher to report to the school and request a review of the classroom facilities, but the school had not taken any action to fix the problem. After that, the parents together wrote a petition to send to the school.

“At this point, the school has just stripped the ceiling, removed the ceiling fan and replaced it with a wall-mounted fan to ensure the safety of the children. But this is only a temporary measure, it cannot completely fix the problem. The children will still study here for the next 1-2 years, if we handle it temporarily, it will be very inappropriate because there is still a risk of problems occurring,” said this parent.

Mr. M added that recently, due to concerns about health and safety, many parents have temporarily let their children stay home from school even though the exam dates for two important subjects are approaching.

"We want our children to study in a safe environment and conditions. We cannot allow aneducational facility in the center of the capital to lack such minimum conditions," said Mr. M.

Parents are worried because the classroom ceiling is falling off in patches. *Photo: PHCC*

Ms. Nguyen Kieu Duyen, Principal of Thanh Quan Secondary School, said that after the incident where a piece of plaster fell from the ceiling of a third-floor classroom, causing a student to fracture his ankle, the school inspected all rooms and dangerous areas.

The school has also reported to the Department of Education and Training, the People's Committee of Hoan Kiem District and relevant departments to find a solution. Before students returned to school after the holiday, the school had removed all areas of the wall that were at risk of peeling to ensure the safety of students.

“As of today (May 6), only 36 students in the whole school are on leave. The remaining students are still studying and living normally,” Ms. Duyen informed.

Thanh Quan Secondary School is expected to be built and renovated within 1 year and completed by May 2026.

While studying, teachers and students of Standard School call for help because they are worried about bricks falling on their heads.

The school meets level 2 standards but many classrooms are seriously degraded, with broken bricks scattered everywhere. Teachers and students teach and learn in anxiety.