'Special' November 20th holiday for teachers at the centralized quarantine area

Holidays do not think about yourself, only pity students

For nearly a week now, teacher Nguyen Thi Van Anh has become the second mother of her students at BT Ethnic Boarding Secondary School.Nhon Maiwhen the teacher and students were quarantined at the centralized quarantine area located at the Continuing Education Center (old) in Hoa Binh town, districtXiangyangAt the age of over 50, with two grown children, this job does not seem too difficult for her. However, in nearly 30 years of teaching, she has never had to experience such a special situation and in such a difficult environment.

Students of Nhon Mai Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities are reviewing their lessons at the Quarantine Area. Photo: PV

In the past few days, although in the same quarantine area, teachers and students could only look at each other through their eyes, not daring to have close contact or gather in large groups. Behind the strict implementation of the 5K regulations is the worry that the epidemic could come at any time because all 42 students in quarantine here have had close contact with an F0 student of class 7A. Teacher Van Anh, the homeroom teacher, has had more contact because this student sits at the front desk and often interacts with teachers.

Nhon Mai Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities is located in a border commune of Tuong Duong district and is in a rather isolated location. Before that, people in the commune had heard a lot about it.Covid-19 epidemicBut no one thought that this rapidly spreading disease would come to their commune, their village and even spread to their school. However, the desired thing did not happen because a parent of a 7A student returned from an epidemic area but did not follow the prevention regulations. Immediately after this student's family tested positive for Covid-19, to ensure the safety of the school, direct teaching was temporarily stopped. Along with that, many teachers and students of the school became F1, F2 subjects and many people had to go into centralized quarantine.

Bouquet of flowers and wishes sent to teacher Van Anh and students. Photo: PV

Recalling her feelings at that time, teacher Van Anh said that she was confused and worried, but most of all, she felt sorry for her students and was afraid that they would be cross-infected in class: Although I was an F1 close contact and had to go into centralized quarantine, if I were not in this group, I would still ask to go in with the students because I am the homeroom teacher, my responsibility is to take care of the students.

From Nhon Mai Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities to the quarantine area in Hoa Binh town, it is a very long journey, from Ky Son down. During that journey, teacher Van Anh had to encourage her students many times not to cry because they were still young, most of them had not had much contact with the outside world. Many of them, before leaving, had not been able to contact their parents, so they were even more worried.

Meaningful gifts on Vietnamese Teachers' Day sent by teachers to students. Photo: PV

Upon entering the quarantine area, although there were staff on duty to support, it was mainly just “words echoing from the first floor”. To ensure absolute safety, teacher Van Anh and her students had to “self-write and self-perform”.

The first three days of the camp, to help the students get used to the new lifestyle, teacher Van Anh had to guide them through every little thing. Many days, when she saw students missing home and crying, she felt sorry for herself, but then she told herself to be strong to be a support for the students.

Teacher Nguyen Thi Van Anh and her students at the centralized quarantine area. Photo: PV

Busy with her new role, even though Vietnam Teachers' Day is approaching, teacher Van Anh seems to no longer think about this happy day. Her biggest consolation is that her colleagues outside still regularly call to share encouragement and provide many essential supplies for her and her students. A fresh bouquet of flowers from a teacher at her old school also sent to her on the anniversary day, giving her more motivation to overcome the difficult and hard days.

The more difficult it is, the stronger you have to be.

After nearly 5 days of discovering the first positive case, yesterday morning (November 18), teacher Le Thi My Hanh - homeroom teacher of class 12C3 - Kim Lien High School (Nam Dan) received more bad news when three more students in the class had to be hospitalized because they became F0. Although she was in a centralized quarantine area and had anticipated the worst, she was still heartbroken when she learned about her students. Therefore, this year's November 20 holiday could not be complete.

Students of Kim Lien High School are studying at the centralized quarantine area. Photo: PV

Up to this point, Kim Lien High School has had 5 students test positive for Covid-19 and related to these cases, allMore than 1,000 students of the school have had to temporarily stop going to school and switch to online teaching. In addition, the school also has 25 teachers and more than 80 students forced to quarantine at home or in centralized quarantine because of close contact with students. Currently, the school has also had to requisition a multi-function house for 8 teachers to be quarantined at school.

Having to temporarily not be able to go to school is something that all teachers and schools do not want, especially for senior students. Therefore, after the decision to close school, the school board decided to switch to online teaching and even teachers who are in centralized quarantine still carry out teaching as usual.

Teacher My Hanh and her students are studying at the centralized quarantine area. Photo: PV

After nearly a week of quarantine with 9 other students at the quarantine area in Nam Giang - Nam Dan commune, teacher Le Thi My Hanh said: Because we had been notified, before entering the quarantine area, both teachers and students brought their laptops, phones or tablets. The students also brought their books and school supplies, so their studies continued as normal. Personally, every time I had a class, I would move to the hallway so as not to affect the students' studies and they would not be distracted by having many classes and different timetables.

In such a special situation, this year Kim Lien High School has temporarily suspended activities to celebrate Vietnamese Teachers' Day on November 20. Instead, the school has used its savings and donations to support teachers and students who are in centralized quarantine and bought all 4G SIM cards to support teachers and students in online teaching. Before the November 20 holiday, the Board of Directors also went directly to each quarantine area to give flowers to encourage teachers and hoped that teachers would have more strength to overcome this very difficult time.

Bouquets of flowers to encourage teachers in time. Photo: PV

Teacher Duong Van Son - Principal of the school shared: Although this year's holiday has many differences, we still believe that this will be a time to challenge the school's teaching staff and more than ever we will try to fulfill the role of teachers. We have also received many words of sharing and encouragement, and those are the most precious gifts.

According to statistics from the Department of Education and Training from mid-October to now, Nghe An province has 131 students and 5 teachers and staff at schools in the F0 category. In addition, the whole province has had and is having about 3,000 teachers and students in the F1 category who are being quarantined. The increasing number of patients who are students and teachers also shows that the Covid-19 epidemic is becoming more complicated and currently, in addition to Vinh city, many other localities are still having to maintain two forms of direct or online teaching such as Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc, Nam Dan, Thai Hoa, Nghia Dan, Quynh Luu, Quy Chau...

From the quarantine area, teachers of Kim Lien High School (Nam Dan) received flowers from the school's Board of Directors on November 20. Photo: PV

The epidemic and the risk of widespread spread have also made this year's Vietnamese Teachers' Day more subdued, without intimate meetings or many colorful bouquets of flowers. The most meaningful words of love at this time are the hope that the epidemic will pass quickly, teachers and students will be safe and the dream of returning to school soon...