Nghe An seeks solutions to ensure safety for students returning to school

Tens of thousands of Nghe An students have been able to go to school.

This morning, many localities across the province officially opened their doors to welcome students back to school after a summer vacation lasting more than 3 months and a week of online teaching. These are localities that have been switching to anti-epidemic measures under Directive 19 for a week, such as Tan Ky, Quy Hop, Nghia Dan, Thai Hoa town, Anh Son...

Students in Anh Son district are given separate paths to school. Photo: PV

In Quy Hop district, through the synthesis of the district's Department of Education and Training, today officially 44 schools in the area including all 3 levels of primary, secondary and high school have converted from the form ofonline learningto directly. With over 20,000 students, ensuring epidemic prevention safety is still the top priority of the locality. Currently, the district maintains 2 morning and afternoon sessions and divides them into different classes. In which, the morning session is for grades 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12 and the afternoon session for the remaining classes. At schools, distance is created between classes to limit contact.

Being able to return to school at this time is extremely valuable for both teachers and students, so in the process of organizing teaching and learning, the Department of Education and Training has also made appropriate adjustments. Specifically, while in grades 2-9, teaching and learning is organized for all subjects, in grades 1 and 2, the department focuses on 3 main subjects: Literature, Math and Foreign Language. On the first day of school, the department's leaders also inspected the schools and basically the teaching and learning organization was carried out seriously.

Students of Quy Hop Secondary School on their first day at school. Photo: PV

The current difficulty is implementation.distanceIt is difficult to ensure in the classroom, because most of the schools in the area have been built for a long time and have small areas. Meanwhile, the number of students in the classes is large. The district has also considered the option of dividing the classes into two, but it is difficult to implement because currently the schools do not have the staff for the 2021-2022 school year, so they have not arranged enough teachers. The number of teachers at the primary level is very short, not enough to ensure 1 teacher.

Mr. Ho Binh Minh - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Quy Hop district said: At this time, we are still cautious when organizing teaching again and it is expected that if after 1 month the epidemic in the district is stable, the district will consider the plan to organize teaching again as normal.

In Nghia Dan district, through discussion, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung - Head of the district's Department of Education and Training shared: Starting this week, students in the whole district will return to school. However, teaching and learning will still be maintained in two forms: online and in-person. In particular, in primary school, in addition to one session at school, the remaining session at home, students will study online to ensure the program of 2 sessions/day.

Leaders of the Department of Education and Training of Anh Son district inspect the organization of direct teaching at schools. Photo: PV

From today, Anh Son district, the remaining 4 communes bordering the town after 1 week of online teaching will officially switch to direct teaching. After 1 week of direct teaching, Mr. Doan Van Thanh - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Anh Son district said: At this time, we are still implementing social distancing to organize teaching for schools with 2 morning and afternoon sessions. However, to speed up the program in case the epidemic can break out again, we will increase 1 week from 1 - 3 sessions for primary school students and secondary school students (priority for grade 1 and grade 2 students). But the teaching time is not more than 3 periods/session.

Do not teach if safety is not guaranteed.

Last night (September 12), after being transferred to Directive 15, Vinh City People's Committee also developed a Plan to organize teaching and learning to ensure safety in preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic. According to this plan, at this time, the city's first and foremost goal is still to protect the health and lives of teachers, staff and students. At the same time, it is focusing on prioritizing all resources for the prevention and fight against the Covid-19 epidemic.

Students of Nghia Dan Secondary School have their temperature checked on the first day of school. Photo: PV

Through discussion, Ms. Hoang Thi Phuong Thao - Head of the Department of Education and Training said: At this time, the city will continue to maintain online teaching to ensure the safety of students and teachers. After that, depending on the situation, the city only plans to switch to direct teaching when switching to Directive 19. However, if students go to school, the city will have a plan to ensure social distancing, both direct teaching and indirect teaching.

Previously, according to statistics from the LMS system, after 1 week of online teaching, the rate of students in the city participating in enough classes reached 97 - 98%. This is a fairly high rate, but during the implementation process, the leaders of the Department of Education and Training admitted that there were still unavoidable shortcomings in the network system and difficulties and confusion for teachers and students in the first week of testing.

Students in Vinh city continue to study online. Photo: PV

Therefore, the city has requested the provider to open a separate line for city teachers to organize online teaching and learning, avoiding local network congestion. To monitor quality, the city has directed schools to increase inspection, class observation and organize regular professional activities to promptly resolve difficulties and problems.

In addition to Vinh city, other localities such as Nam Dan, Quynh Luu, Hoang Mai town, and Dien Chau continue to maintain online teaching for students and have not considered students returning to school if the area has not switched to disease prevention according to Directive 19.

Dien Chau district continues to support online learning equipment for students in difficult circumstances to organize teaching and learning well. Photo: PV

The Department of Education and Training has also issued a document guiding and allowing localities to consult with the District Steering Committee based on the actual situation to have appropriate teaching and learning plans and strategies.