Tuong Duong will merge 10 primary schools

(Baonghean.vn) - This is the information reported by the Department of Education and Training of Tuong Duong district to the survey team of the Culture - Society Committee, People's Council at the working session on the afternoon of November 17 on the implementation of school network planning.

The working group inspected milk preservation at Yen Thang 1 Primary School. Photo: Hoai Thu

Merge 10 elementary schools

Through surveys at Yen Thang 1 and Yen Thang 2 Primary Schools, it was shown that school facilities and staff and teacher arrangements have basically met teaching requirements.

Principal of Yen Thang 1 Primary School, Ha Van Lan, said: The school manages students in 3 villages with 113 students, 9 classes, of which 4 classes are at the main location and 2 separate locations in Coc and Tat villages.

Yen Thang 2 Primary School is in charge of students from 4 villages, has 14 classrooms, 178 students distributed in 1 main school and 3 satellite schools.

According to the roadmap, Yen Thang 1 and Yen Thang 2 primary schools will merge in the 2019-2020 school year, right at the time of re-evaluation and recognition of national standard schools at level 1. Regarding the school merger, basically all staff and teachers agree and support.

Re-planning the school network is also an issue that the education sector of Tuong Duong district has set out a roadmap for implementation.

Ms. Vy Thi Bich Thuy - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Tuong Duong district said that by the 2020 - 2021 school year, Tuong Duong district is expected to have 61 public schools and 1 continuing education center.

According to the roadmap from now until 2025, the district will merge 10 primary schools into 5 schools in the communes of Yen Na, Yen Hoa, Yen Tinh, Tam Quang and Yen Thang.

Ms. Thuy also said that the district has been focusing on investing in infrastructure, improving the quality of unqualified schools on the list of schools to be merged, and there are 6 schools on the roadmap to become boarding schools. In addition, in difficult villages, the district will continue to replicate the boarding school model at the primary level.

Few poor and near-poor students register for school milk

The survey team of the Department of Culture and Society, Provincial People's Council also learned about the implementation of the school milk program.

Accordingly, at Yen Thang 1 and Yen Thang 2 primary schools, the implementation started in the 2016-2017 school year and has been basically smooth so far.

Schools and parents alike want to continue implementing this program because students have improved nutrition, physical strength, and attend school more regularly, significantly reducing the dropout rate.

At Yen Thang 1 Primary School, in the first school year of implementation, 97/102 students participated. By the 2017-2018 school year, 100% of students participated, of which 95% were supported and 7 students were not supported.

As for Yen Thang 2 school, the current participation rate is 95.5% with 169/177 students; out of 12 students not eligible for free milk support, 4 students participated, the remaining 8 students did not participate.

Implementing the school milk program since 2016, up to now, the participation rate of students in Tuong Duong district has reached 72.3%; of which, the number of students who are exempted from fees (poor households) participating is 99.93%, students from near-poor households (supported by 50%) have 69.8% participating and students from well-off households (supported by 30%) have 39.5% participating.

Teaching according to the VNEN model at Yen Thang 2 Primary School. Photo: Hoai Thu

However, according to the Department of Education and Training of Tuong Duong district, the biggest concern in implementing the school milk program is that the number of students from near-poor and poor households registering for their children to drink milk is still low due to lack of financial conditions.

For example, at Tam Thai Kindergarten, Thach Giam. This situation has caused difficulties in the behavior between children who are given milk and those who are not given milk in the same class.

Through working with primary schools and the Department of Education and Training of Tuong Duong district, the Culture - Social Affairs Committee and the People's Council discussed and received feedback from the grassroots to synthesize and complete the content to prepare for the report before the Provincial People's Council meeting on the issue of planning the school network in the province.

At the meetings, the delegation also presented flowers and gifts to congratulate the staff and teachers of schools and the Department of Education and Training of Tuong Duong district on Vietnamese Teachers' Day, November 20.

Hoai Thu