Concerns about experiential travel in schools

Excited about out-of-school experiences

In early February, Thanh Chuong 3 High School organized an experiential activity for 1,200 students in grades 10, 11, and 12 at Lam Kinh National Special Relic Site and Phu Quy Flower Valley. The one-day trip to many destinations was carried out by the school in coordination with a travel agency and took place safely. This is also a rare long trip for many students of the school because the students of Thanh Chuong 3 High School are children of farming families. Therefore, compared to students in the central region and in big cities, they do not have many opportunities to go sightseeing and experience.

Students of Thanh Chuong 3 High School prepare for the field trip. Photo: NTCC

According to teacher Le Van Quyen - Principal of the school: Experiential learning is an activity that plays a very important role in the 2018 General Education program and is organized in many different forms such as: Club activities, organizing games, forums, interactive stages, field trips... At Thanh Chuong 3 High School, in the process of organizing experiential activities, the school's board of directors also had many concerns. Therefore, the selection of experiential activity locations was carefully considered and the opinions of students and parents were sought. The first important criterion is to serve the purpose of learning. Then the school aims at historical sites and red addresses to educate students about traditions.

Previously, the schedule was to visit Uncle Ho's hometown, Truong Bon historical site, Le Hong Phong memorial site... in the province. However, many students said they had been to these places before and wanted to go to a new place. During the organization process, the school also put safety first. Each class was arranged a car, with a homeroom teacher and parent representatives accompanying them to supervise and manage. Students were also prepared 3 weeks in advance, and assigned tasks by group throughout the trip.

Experiential trip to visit many historical sites of students of Thanh Chuong 3 High School. Photo: NTCC

According to the leaders of Thanh Chuong 3 High School, the cost of the trip was 420,000 VND/student. However, the school also used the fund to support poor students, called on donors to support and sponsored by a travel company to provide free travel for 75 disadvantaged students. Some teachers also provided additional support for their students during the trip and the school also aimed to ensure that no student who wanted to participate could not go due to difficult circumstances. After the trip, all students wrote a report.

After 3 years of interruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic, from this school year, schools have begun to organize experiential activities for students in many different forms.

At Le Mao Primary School (Vinh City), on the occasion of the Anniversary of the Founding Day of the Vietnam People's Army, the school organized for students to have a day of experience as soldiers at a military unit in Do Luong district. Ha Huy Tap Secondary School (Vinh City) also organized for 9th grade students to have a day of experience at red addresses such as Truong Bon Historical Site, Kim Lien Historical Site (Nam Dan); Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum; Tan Ky High School had a study tour at President Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, cultural village, Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam in Hanoi. Students of Hermann Gmeiner High School (Vinh City) had a tour and experience in Quang Tri and Hue...

Students of Le Mao Primary School go on an experience trip on the occasion of the founding day of the People's Army. Photo: My Ha

Although these experiential trips have not been organized regularly, they have received a lot of support from students and parents. Through experiential activities, they have left many special memories of their school years and helped them understand more about history, educate revolutionary traditions and guide them towards many positive life values ​​for themselves and the community.

Pediatricmany conflicting opinions

Last weekend, Ha Huy Tap High School (Vinh City) held a parent-teacher meeting for all students. In addition to the content related to studying, one of the issues that many parents are interested in is the field trip plan for 10th and 11th grade students, scheduled to be held at the end of February 2023.

Through discussion, teacher Cao Thanh Bao - Principal of the school said: The school has a plan to organize an experience trip for students and is collecting opinions from parents and students but has not made a final decision. Currently, we are proposing 3 options, the first is to organize a one-day trip for students to visit relics such as Truong Bon, the relic site of former General Secretary Ha Huy Tap and Dong Loc intersection. The remaining two options, the first is a 2-day trip including the relic site of former General Secretary Ha Huy Tap, Truong Son cemetery, Quang Tri ancient citadel, Vinh Linh tunnels and the third option is to go to Hue, visit Khai Dinh tomb and go to the Imperial City.organize a Gala night. Of these three options, the highest fee is 1.4 millionVND and the lowest is only a few hundred thousand VND. However, through taking students' opinions, most students like to go far away because most of them have been to places in Nghe An and Ha Tinh many times.

Vinh City students visit Hue Imperial City. Photo: DVCC

Teacher Cao Thanh Bao also said: The school has organized experiential activities before, but this year, the plan is longer. However, due to the large number of students expected to participate, the school is considering, collecting opinions and has not yet finalized the final plan. To ensure safety, the school is also selecting a coordinating unit to implement, build a tour - a route that does not have dangerous destinations such as rivers and will discuss with each class and the parent association to jointly supervise students during the program.

Regarding the organization of experiential programs for students, many opinions also say that this is not really necessary because it is expensive, affects health and has many potential dangers. Recently, there have been many unfortunate incidents across the country when students went on experiential trips.

One parent also said, "The children are not old enough to experience it! It's both expensive and worrying. Or if you go, you should go within the province." However, many other opinions say, "Parents are worried that their children are not safe, are abused, go in the rain and sun, and affect their health. However, I personally think that this is very necessary because the children go with friends, unlike going with their parents, and this is an opportunity for the children to rub shoulders and mature. In fact, families with conditions also send their children to summer camps abroad, students in other countries also experience it very early and the children are very confident. At their age, students are also aware of how to protect themselves."

Students of Ha Huy Tap High School share about their experiential trips. Photo: MH

Regarding whether or not to go on field trips, many students also said that they were "very excited about field trips with the class."

Students Nguyen Ngoc Ha, Dang Quoc Bao, Le Duc Dat - class 12T3 - Ha Huy Tap High School all said: I think the experience trip will help students in the school, in the class bond with each other and build a positive environment for students. Regarding safety, we think that as high school students, we will take care of ourselves. In reality, at home, our parents also work all day and we all have to take care of ourselves to grow up.

Not only high school students, but also many other levels of education from preschool, primary school, secondary school are implementing the experience in many different forms, depending on the actual conditions of the school and the conditions of parents and students.

Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted has also organized many trips for students for many years, many of which last from 4 to 5 days. Teacher Ngo Sy Thuy - Principal of the school said: Due to learning conditions, organizing long trips during the school year is very difficult. Therefore, our school often organizes them in the summer and the parents' association and classes proactively implement them for each class. The school supports this policy and requires classes to put safety first during the implementation process.

Students of Nghi Hoa Primary School (Nghi Loc) visit the Military Region 4 Museum. Photo: BT QK4

Reality also shows that field trips bring a lot of meaning to students, more or less giving them interesting and useful lessons. The current problem is that the implementation in schools is still spontaneous, there is no general guidance or regulation, so parents' concerns and worries are completely reasonable. Not to mention, the implementation is mainly done by the school in coordination with a travel company or an event organizer, so it is difficult to assess the quality of the tour. Meanwhile, the number of students participating in a program is very large, up to hundreds of students and difficult to manage.

The organization also needs to be carried out on a voluntary basis to avoid pressure on parents and students, especially those from disadvantaged families.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Thai Van Thanh - Director of the Department of Education and Training wrote: The Department will soon have a document on organizing experiences for students at schools. However, the Department's viewpoint is not to organize long-term trips for students at high costs. Experiential tours must be associated with red addresses, within the province and locations near schools./.