Hundreds of students discovered 'sending' their household registration to the wrong school district in Vinh city

"Check" the universal list according to the Covid-19 testing list

Universalization is a regular activity carried out by localities in Vinh city at the beginning of the new school year. However, this year, after nearly a month of universalization in the whole city, many parents are upset because they think that the city has not done the universalization correctly by not basing it on household registration or temporary residence book but on the list of Covid-19 test registrations in the area.

Due to the pandemic, in 2021, one of the popular bases was taken from the Covid-19 test list. Photo: MH

Many classes in Vinh city are overloaded, with student numbers exceeding regulations due to enrollment pressure. Photo: MH

Taking data from the Covid-19 test list is unprecedented inVinh cityin the dissemination work. However, in 2021, the dissemination work was organized at a time when the Covid-19 epidemic was still complicated, the city changed the state of disease prevention and control from Directive 16 to Directive 15, so the implementation had many changes. Accordingly, instead of having to "go to every alley, knock on every door, check every subject", the dissemination work was carried out online and by phone to investigate the data that parents had declared to limit contact.

In addition, to ensure the universalization work is accurate, before the universalization, on September 6, Vinh City People's Committee also issued Document No. 5828/UBND - BCĐ on guiding the investigation work of universalizing education to eliminate illiteracy. In which, the city requested the Steering Committees in the wards to collect datatestThird Covid-19 screening in residential blocks and hamlets as a basis for updating universal survey data in 2021.

At that time, Vinh city was still implementing Directive 16 with the regulation "wherever you are, stay there". In addition, the third testing in the whole city was thoroughly carried out to every household for all subjects and if they did not strictly comply, they would be administratively punished.

This can also be considered a basis for reviewing the popularization work with a fairly high degree of accuracy. However, after completing the popularization work, some people said that the popularization was not accurate, objective and did not target the right people.

Ms. NT has a child studying at Ha Huy Tap 2 Primary School and for many years her family has been living with her grandparents in Ha Huy Tap Ward. Now, according to the newly announced universalization list, her child has been transferred to Nghi Phu Commune because at the time of Directive 16, her family registered for Covid-19 testing in an apartment complex in Nghi Phu Commune.

Talking about this, she indignantly said: My husband works far away, only comes home once a month. Therefore, since I got married, gave birth and am now preparing to have a second child, I have lived with my husband's parents, and my household registration is also at my husband's house. Sometimes when my husband comes back, we move to the apartment (only for a few days), so now it is not reasonable to move my family to Nghi Phu commune.

Hundreds of cases must be reinvestigated universally

Parents are right to be concerned that their children are not on the list of universalized students even though they have a household registration or temporary residence book in the area, because this will be the basis for schools to recruit students for the following school years. Meanwhile, getting a place "out of area" is not easy, and can even lead to negative situations.

In fact, not only the case of Ms. PN's family, but also hundreds of cases in Vinh city have been removed from the universal list after the city compared the registered universal list (online) and the Covid-19 test registration list of families in residential areas. Of which, Ha Huy Tap ward alone has 301 cases that have to paypopularIn other wards and communes, there were 98 cases of preschool age, 141 cases of primary school age and 62 cases of secondary school age.

Ha Huy Tap Ward has also been a "hot spot" for primary school enrollment for many years in Vinh City. Ms. Hoang Thi Phuong Thao - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Vinh City said: One of the reasons why primary school enrollment in Ha Huy Tap Ward is difficult is because the number of students "importing" their household registration into the ward is too large. This puts a lot of pressure on schools and classrooms. Currently, Ha Huy Tap 2 Primary School has more than 2,000 students and may increase in the coming years. However, the school currently does not have land to build more classrooms.

Sending their children to quality schools is a legitimate wish of many parents. Photo: Duc Anh

In order to “screen” the right students for universal education, for the past 2 years, Vinh city has tightened the universal education work, especially in 4 key wards: Ha Huy Tap, Hung Dung, Le Mao and Le Loi. The results show that there are thousands of cases where although having household registration in 1 of these 4 wards, through investigation, the family has a house in another ward.

Through the universalization investigation, Vinh city has also discovered unusual cases such as a family living in a small level 4 house with two elderly grandparents but there are up to 13 cases of "sending" household registration with many different surnames. Or there are cases willing to pay for a rental house in these wards but in fact do not stay but register for temporary residence so that their children can be included in the universalization list. During the universalization process, there are residential areas (especially in some apartment buildings), the management board "colluded" with the households and before the universalization was implemented, texted all residents in the apartment building if a universalization teacher came to report that "the house had been sold or moved" so that their names would not be on the universalization list to avoid universalization at the local level...

Class time of students at Hung Binh Primary School. Photo: MH

According to the synthesis of the Department of Education and Training of Vinh city, in 2020, after reviewing the universalization list, the entire Ha Huy Tap ward reduced 2,091 subjects of all ages. Of which, the school age group reduced by 500 children.

Or in Hung Dung ward, in 2020, there were 41 fewer children, in 2021 there were 55 fewer children compared to the previous list. In Le Mao ward, this figure also changed a lot, in 2020 there were 108 fewer children and in 2021 there were 50 fewer children.

In fact, the implementation of universal education is the basis for the city to build plans for the following school years and is also the basis for the city to do well in enrollment. However, due to pressure and the increasing number of parents wanting their children to study at schools considered to be the "top" of the city, the implementation process cannot avoid negative aspects.

Responding to hundreds of cases of incorrect universalization in 2021, Ms. Hoang Thi Phuong Thao said: These are new cases initially discovered through screening from blocks, hamlets and the list of Covid-19 test registrations and are not the final figures. Therefore, in the coming days, the Steering Committee for Universal Education - Literacy Eradication in wards and communes will review "suspicious" cases. The city's viewpoint is to universalize accurately to ensure the rights of all subjects and also to facilitate the work of primary school enrollment. In particular, students and parents must be universalized where they live. If students have a household registration or temporary residence certificate in the area but actually live in another ward, they will also have to transfer universalization to their place of residence. Special cases must have a legitimate reason and must be proven accurate and objective by the residential group and relevant departments and branches.

The universalization results are one of the bases for schools to recruit students at the beginning of the year. Photo: MH

The Head of the Department of Education and Training of Vinh City also added: The city does not prohibit cross-district enrollment, but on the condition that schools still have enough quotas and must ensure harmonious enrollment between schools, avoiding the situation of "some schools are overloaded, some schools are lacking students" and that will also affect the quality of education between schools.