School safety issues

(Baonghean) - Recently, there have been a number of school accidents, partly due to the negligence of schools. School safety issues due to the deterioration of facilities and the potential for unpredictable risks are alarming.

The image of a school that is too degraded is also what we see at Dien Truong Primary School (Dien Chau), because although the school currently has 4 buildings, 3 of them were built in 1976 and 1 in 1990; the continuous degradation has forced the school to be repaired many times, but because the "coat is too old", after each patching, it does not improve much, one layer of plaster is just plastered, another layer peels off. Mr. Ngo Quang Long, Head of the Education Department of Dien Chau District, said: Currently, in the district, there are many schools that are lacking classrooms, so students are still having to study in cramped, degraded classrooms. Although the department always reminds schools to pay attention to safety work in these schools, it is impossible to foresee the dangers that may occur. The lesson at Dien Thap Primary School is an example. After this incident, the department urgently issued a document requesting all schools to inspect safety work in schools, paying special attention to issues such as: projects must have a commitment with the contractor on construction progress and construction time, must pay attention to safety systems in railings, electricity, playgrounds...

A class at a satellite school of Tien Ky Primary School (Tan Ky).

Inside a degraded classroom of Quynh Lam Kindergarten (Quynh Luu).

In fact, the classrooms at the separate locations of hamlets 7 and 9 of Quynh Lam Kindergarten (Quynh Luu) are also one of the schools that are currently facing many difficulties in terms of facilities. While there are currently nearly 100 children aged 24 months and older studying here. Talking about the "age" of this school building, even teacher Nguyen Thi Loi, who is 40 years old this year, a villager, does not know exactly, because according to her, she has seen this building since she grew up! The elderly in the village say that this classroom could have been built in the late 1950s of the last decade because all the rafters and columns were taken from communal houses in the village after the reform period of 1954 - 1956. Now, looking inside the classroom, everywhere there are potential dangers, from the broken tiled roofs, the termite-infested and patched pillars, and the dilapidated house frames. Discussing the difficulties here, teacher Ho Thi Le, the school principal, said: “If we talk about school standards, this classroom does not meet any standards from area, light, safety, space. The teachers in the school themselves are very worried when they have to let students study in temporary, degraded classrooms like this, however, due to the lack of classrooms, there is no other solution.”

Considering the safety of students' lives as a central task, more important than teaching and learning, for many years now, the Department of Education of Quynh Luu district has regularly reminded schools to pay attention to the issue of student safety. However, according to Mr. Vo Minh Ky, Head of the Department of Education of the district, ensuring absolute safety for students is extremely difficult and sometimes beyond the control of the industry (?), for example in construction work. Because most of the current investment in schools is mainly invested by communes and towns or funded by projects. Therefore, during the construction process, even though we know that there are many items that are not suitable for educational standards, not suitable for students' learning and playing, it is very difficult to intervene. That is also the reason why most of the schools in the area built according to the project do not meet the standards. Regarding the toilet system in kindergartens, there are still about 10 schools that need to be rebuilt because they were built according to adult designs, causing inconvenience and unsafety for students when using them...

When discussing the above issue, Mr. Nguyen Trong Hoan - Deputy Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training said that up to now, the preschool sector in the province still has 641 temporary and borrowed classrooms. Of which, for the 5-year-old system, there are still 140 classes having to study in temporary classrooms. The number of standard practice classrooms in many schools is still low, many schools do not have standard toilets. Many primary and secondary schools still have to study in degraded grade 4 classrooms. These are also potential problems that can affect the safety of students in schools. Besides, there are many other potential problems such as unsafe electricity, noise, air, light, food hygiene and safety.

To solve this problem, it is thought that the most important role is still the localities, in which it is necessary to increase funding to build, upgrade and renovate old and degraded schools. At the same time, it is necessary to take advantage of social mobilization resources. Ensuring safety at school also requires reminders, warnings and regular inspections. Parents also need to pay attention to the safety of their children, coordinate with the school in picking up and dropping off, and educating their children, and should not leave this issue entirely to the school. Actively promote the construction of schools according to the model of "friendly schools, active students", trying to create for students a learning and playing environment that is both safe and friendly...

My Ha