Nghe An teachers go to each house to give homework and teach students during the epidemic season

It took Ms. Dang Thi Minh Nhu, the homeroom teacher of class 3A and also the head of groups 1, 2, and 3 of Lien Thanh Primary School (Yen Thanh), a Tuesday morning to reach all 35 students in her class. She could have finished sooner, but she stayed at each student's house to ask about the work they had done during the school break. In addition, her more important task was to assign homework to students, and while the students were reviewing the assignments, she would review the lessons for them and answer questions if requested by the students and their parents.

Teachers in Yen Thanh district come to tutor students in families. Photo: PV

During Ms. Dang Thi Minh Nhu’s teaching career, students having to take a long break from school was a rare and unprecedented event. Therefore, after the first break (1 week) to the second break (2 weeks), she and many other teachers in the school were extremely worried. Before that, during the first break, she also gave homework to students in class and asked them to complete all supplementary books at home such as exercise books and practice books. However, the fact that students had to extend their break was something they had not anticipated.

To avoid interruptions for students, teachers have updated new assignments on their personal pages. However, due to the nature of a rural school, most parents are still poor and do not have access to modern technology, so monitoring and sharing assignments with students is very limited.

Speaking more about this, teacher Dang Thi Minh Nhu said: After half a month of Tet holiday, students returned to class in a daze and it was very difficult to get them back in the mood. Now they have another week off, we consider this as a second summer vacation and if we do not urge them to study, it will greatly affect their learning results... Meanwhile, if homework is given to students via networks such as Zalo, Facebook, only about 40% of parents can access it.

Going to each student's house to give homework is an effort of teachers in the highlands to fight against illiteracy. Photo: PV

This situation is also common in many other classes at Lien Thanh Primary School. Therefore, last weekend after the decision to close school by the Department of Education and Training, the school's Board of Directors held a meeting with all teachers and required each teacher to develop a review program. Finally, the professional groups will meet and choose a standard review lesson, photocopy it into many copies and then assign the homeroom teacher to go directly to each student's house to send homework to them. The exercises are given in 4 levels from simple to difficult so that each student can do the exercises according to their ability. For difficult math problems, parents and students can discuss directly with the teacher.

Speaking more about the implementation process, teacher Tran Thi Ha - Principal of Lien Thanh Primary School said: Our school has 17 classes with nearly 550 students. Up to this point, most students have received homework from teachers in many different forms. However, due to the characteristics of rural areas, most teachers go to each house to give homework to students and receive high consensus and support from families.

In Tuong Duong district, since last weekend, the district's Department of Education and Training has given quite strict instructions on organizing review sessions for students at schools during the epidemic prevention period. In addition, with the characteristics of a mountainous district, where people's conditions are still difficult, in addition to teaching, the Department has also encouraged schools to come up with their own solutions so that students can have healthy entertainment at home. Although the implementation time is quite urgent, after only a few days of launching, the results have been evident in all schools.

Teachers of Tam Quang Primary School (Tuong Duong) bring books and newspapers to students. Photo: PV.

Talking about the results, Ms. Vo Tuyet Chinh - Deputy Head of the District Education and Training Department said: Although the area of ​​Tuong Duong district is very difficult to travel and isolated, responding to the direction of the department, schools have directed teachers to go to each village to give homework and correct students' work. Many schools also bring storybooks and reference books so that students have more books to read at home, avoiding the situation of going out and making it difficult to prevent the epidemic.

During this long break, Tuong Duong district and many other mountainous districts are also worried that students will become illiterate again (especially first graders). Therefore, even though students do not go to school, schools still set the goal of both "fighting the epidemic" and "fighting illiteracy".

Despite the school break, schools still maintain review sessions for students. Photo: PV

The most practical solution for teachers is to “go from house to house, check each student” to provide extra tutoring for students. Teacher Kha Van Thong - Principal of Nga My Primary School added: Our school has 5 schools, the farthest one is 20 km away from the commune center by forest road. During these days, so that students do not forget their books, we take turns going down to each village every 3 days to give homework and correct students’ lessons. Some teachers even volunteer to stay in the village 24/7 and regularly closely monitor their lessons so that students do not forget their lessons.

The “second” school break to prevent Covid-19 is likely to be extended. And, the efforts of teachers have partly helped parents and students feel secure to overcome the epidemic season.