'No matter how difficult it is, we will not let flood-affected students drop out of school'

Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha repeated this message many times during his working trip to inspect the situation of storm and flood recovery for teaching and learning in the Central provinces yesterday, October 23.

Talking to provincial leaders, industry leaders as well as teachers of Quang Binh province on the morning of October 23, Mr. Nha said that the recent storm and flood incident caused very serious consequences for the people, especially teachers in Quang Binh province in particular and the Central provinces in general.

Therefore, the working delegation of the Ministry of Education this time came to work with the Central provinces to first inspect and survey the situation of overcoming the consequences of storms and floods on teaching and learning in schools, from there coordinate with localities to come up with measures to help students not to drop out of school, no matter how difficult the situation is.

Minister Phung Xuan Nha visited and encouraged students at Dai Phong Primary School (Le Thuy, Quang Binh).

According to the report of the Department of Education and Training of Quang Binh, the recent floods from October 13-15 have caused serious impacts on human life and property in the province's education sector. 8 students of all levels have died. Damage to school and classroom facilities is estimated at 105 billion VND along with a lot of teaching equipment, books of teachers and students.

In Quang Tri, according to the report of the local Department of Education and Training, the total damage to the education sector in the province was up to 3.33 billion VND. Fortunately, there were no human casualties.

Meanwhile, in Ha Tinh, the entire education sector suffered a loss of 11.2 billion VND, of which the education sector in Huong Khe district alone suffered the heaviest loss (7.7 billion VND). More than 300 schools from kindergarten to high school were flooded.

Minister Phung Xuan Nha said that to overcome the consequences of floods on the education sector, in the immediate future, local education departments and offices need to review the entire curriculum that students had to miss for more than a week due to the storm and floods, and from there develop a specific plan for students to make up for lost school hours, but also not to force them to the point of overloading.

Regarding learning conditions, classrooms and books, Mr. Nha said it is necessary to create conditions for students to go to school fully. Currently, the Ministry of Education and Training has launched a campaign for all educational institutions nationwide to donate books, clothes, school bags and teaching equipment to support the people of Central Vietnam.

Mr. Nha also directed the local Departments of Education and Training to compile statistics on difficulties in books and teaching equipment for students, especially in places where books were flooded or damaged by floods, to provide them to students so that they do not have a shortage of books.

In addition, Mr. Nha also said that one of the issues that deserves attention after the flood is epidemiology. Therefore, the Ministry of Education and Training has also directed medical schools under the Ministry to go to localities to examine the health, treat and prevent diseases for students in flood-affected areas so that they can soon have normal learning conditions.

Minister Phung Xuan Nha visited and encouraged the family of Tran Ngoc Hao, a 9th grade student at Gia Minh Secondary School (Quang Ninh district, Quang Binh) who unfortunately died in the recent storm and flood.

"We will work with local leaders and discuss solutions so that no matter how difficult it is, we will not let students drop out of school or let teachers fall into too difficult a situation at work," Minister Nha affirmed.

Accordingly, Mr. Nha said that he will ask leaders of local education departments to thoroughly convey the spirit to families and students so that they do not abandon them, and pay attention to difficult cases and those at risk during the recent storm and flood.

"We will also work with provincial leaders to develop tuition policies, scholarships, and direct support policies for those in difficult circumstances. We will try to ensure that students do not drop out of school due to economic difficulties," said Mr. Nha.

For teachers in localities affected by the recent storm and flood, Mr. Nha also said that he sympathizes with them because in areas that were already facing difficulties, the situation became even more difficult after the storm and flood.

However, the head of the education sector also hopes that teachers in flood-affected areas will try to overcome difficulties with the spirit of a teacher, devoting themselves to their students.

Regarding localities with heavy damage to school facilities, Mr. Nha said that the task of consolidating schools is under the authority of the province. However, the Ministry of Education and Training will also coordinate to concentrate on schools that are not qualified for children to study.

"In the near future, the Ministry of Education and Training will prioritize some provinces in the Central region that are facing difficulties to handle makeshift bamboo and thatch classrooms that do not meet safety conditions for students when they encounter floods. We will ensure that students are safe when they go to school," Mr. Nha affirmed.

In the immediate future, Mr. Nha directed local education departments affected by recent storms and floods to create conditions to borrow some facilities from communes and districts so that students have a place to study, creating all conditions for them to go to school.

On the same afternoon, a working delegation from the Ministry of Education also inspected and visited educational facilities that suffered damage in the recent floods in the two provinces of Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue and Ha Tinh.

During this period, the Ministry of Education and Training also donated nearly 1.5 billion VND along with many books, school bags and teaching equipment to 5 central provinces that suffered heavy consequences in the recent storm and flood. This amount of money and material was donated from the donation campaign to support the central region of the entire education sector launched by Minister Phung Xuan Nha.

According to Vietnamnet