Nghe An still has nearly 1,000 temporary classrooms before the new school year
(Baonghean) - Every year, hundreds of new classrooms are built in the province. However, the worry of temporary schools and classrooms is always present as the new school year approaches.
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| A temporary school in Tuong Duong district before the new school year. Photo: Tien Hung |
The highlands are still difficult.
The flood has passed for nearly a year, but the road to the center of Muong Ai commune (Ky Son) is still full of difficulties and hardships. Along the way, we continuously encountered signs of “landslip and danger warning” and it took us nearly 3 hours to get to Muong Ai Primary School.
This was also the school that suffered the most damage after two consecutive flash floods occurred in August 2018. The most serious of which was the school's teachers' dormitory which was completely swept away by the flood. The classroom area was flooded with mud and landslides, damaging many teaching and learning equipment.
Rebuilding the teachers' housing is not easy when the cost of construction and purchasing materials is 3 or 4 times higher than the market price. That is why, when the Vietnam Education Trade Union decided to choose Muong Ai Primary School to support the construction of the new housing, not only the teachers but also the parents and students here were very happy. After nearly 3 months of construction, the project worth more than 700 million VND was completed in time for the new school year.
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| The official residence for teachers of Muong Ai Primary School was completed before the new school year 2019-2020. Photo: My Ha |
However, in Ky Son district, there are currently more than 40 temporary classrooms, borrowed classrooms and hundreds of other classrooms that have seriously degraded, including many buildings that are severely damaged such as the classroom block of Muong Tip Kindergarten, the boarding and semi-boarding area for students of Nam Tip Secondary School and the semi-boarding area for students and boarding houses for teachers at My Ly 2 Secondary School.
Mr. Phan Van Thiet - Deputy Head of the Department of Education and Training of Ky Son district said: "All classrooms and dormitories of schools in flood-affected areas are now seriously degraded and almost unusable. However, because there has been no investment in new construction, we are having to take advantage of and "patch up any damaged areas" so as not to interrupt the teaching and learning of teachers and students...".
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| Teachers of Muong Ai Primary School (Ky Son) prepare for the new school year. Photo: My Ha |
The problem of temporary classrooms, learning by others, and borrowing classrooms also occurs in many other mountainous areas. In Que Phong district, this year, 40 classrooms have been renovated and newly built, of which 19 are being completed with a total investment of over 6 billion VND. However, this is still not enough as the whole district still has more than 41 temporary classrooms, borrowed classrooms, and mainly concentrated in extremely difficult areas.
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| Nghe An province currently has nearly 1,000 temporary classrooms. Photo: Tien Hung |
Across the province, according to statistics, there are currently nearly 1,000 temporary and borrowed classrooms and more than 5,000 semi-permanent classrooms, many of which are damaged and degraded and need new investment to replace them.
In Quynh Lap Commune (Hoang Mai Town), entering the 2019-2020 school year, the commune invested nearly 10 billion VND to build a new 18-classroom building for Quynh Lap A Primary School, but it still did not meet the teaching and learning needs here. Therefore, this school year, only more than half of the students were transferred to the new location. The rest are still studying at the old location in a state of disrepair and are expected to study with preschool students.
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| Quynh Lap A Primary School is being built to prepare for the new school year. Photo: My Ha |
Students at Quynh Lap B Primary School still have to study in the old, dilapidated school. The kindergarten level is at a disadvantage because the whole commune still has 14 classrooms that have to be temporarily used in the cultural house.
“For many years now, here, “schools are neither schools nor classes”. Children from preschool to 3 years old still have to stay at home because the school only gives priority to students aged 4-5, and students are not allowed to study at boarding schools” - Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Ha - Party cell secretary - Head of Dong Thanh hamlet.
Right in Vinh city, from 2016 to now, the city has built 367 new classrooms, functional classrooms, and expanded many school campuses, but there is still a shortage of classrooms.
At Truong Thi Primary School, Ms. Le Thi Hong Lam - Principal of the school worriedly said: "In recent years, more and more apartment buildings have been put into use in the area, so the number of students in primary and preschool levels has increased dramatically. As for our school, this school year we are short of 13 classrooms and for now, grade 5 students have to borrow classrooms from the secondary school, the remaining 4 grades have to take turns studying, not having Saturdays off."
Faced with these shortcomings, recently at the end of May, the People's Committee of Nghe An province also approved a plan to implement the project to ensure facilities for preschool and general education programs until 2025 in the province.
Accordingly, in the next 5 years, the province will invest in building 3,285 new classrooms, 5,730 functional rooms, laboratory practice rooms and 1,528 classrooms for additional classes with a total cost of more than 8,000 billion VND.
Mr. Thai Van Thanh - Director of the Department of Education and Training also said: "Investing in facilities is necessary at present. That not only meets the minimum learning needs of schools but also implements the preschool education program and general education program according to the roadmap for program and textbook innovation for educational institutions in the province".
