Students at Phạm Văn Chính Primary School in Thủ Đức city, HCM City last year. VNA/VNS.Photo Thu Hoài

HCM CITY— After reopening on September 6 for secondary and high school students and September 8 for primary students, schools in HCM City could teach online until the end of the first term because of the COVID-19 restrictions, the city Department of Education and Training has said.

Kindergartens will start when the outbreak is controlled well, but the department will instruct teachers in early September to make videos on living skills for their students.

Nguyễn Văn Hiếu, the department’s head, said online learning is no longer considered a temporary solution unlike last year, and would continue for the full year.

The department has created databases for it, he said. 

Starting online learning as scheduled would help ensure the right progress for examinations for ninth and 12th graders, he said.

When the city controls the outbreak, first, second, sixth, and 10th graders would attend school first, with their classrooms divided into small groups, he said.

If the online classes prolong, the academic year could last longer than the usual June, he said.

Many schools will make video lessons and upload them on their website for parents to download.

The department will collaborate with the Department of Health to vaccinate teachers and instruct schools to make plans to ensure the safety of teachers and students when they reopen.

The city is now using 249 schools as quarantine facilities and 453 others as vaccination sites. Because of the COVID outbreak, construction of many schools has been halted. Many private schools have gone bankrupt.

Enrolment

Enrolment to the first and sixth grades faces difficulties despite being done online. 

According to the Gò Vấp District education division, for instance, there are more than 8,700 first graders, but it has sent online applications to less than 50 per cent of their parents.   

Bình Tân District has 11,000 first graders and the parents of nearly 8,000 have applied.  

First, second, and sixth graders will have new textbooks from this academic year, but many schools have yet to receive them because of the social distancing restrictions in the city.

The publication, printing and distribution authorities have said textbooks should be listed as essential goods to get transportation and distribution priority across the country.   

The Ministry of Education and Training has urged provinces and cities to create favourable conditions for this to ensure distribution in time for the upcoming school year.

Hiếu said his department is seeking permission from the COVID-19 prevention and control steering committee in Thủ Đức city and districts to allow parents to go to schools to buy textbooks before schools reopen.   

But students not having textbooks can use their electronic version available on the department and publishers’ websites.  VNS