Classes will be online to start with for primary school students in HCM City amid school closures caused by COVID-19. — VNA/VNS Photo Thu Hoài

HCM CITY — Primary school students in HCM City will learn online for the first 10 weeks of the upcoming academic year due to school closures amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

The city Department of Education and Training said all lessons and study activities would be carried out entirely online, with a focus on Vietnamese and maths.

It has written to instruct all primary schools in the city to design learning contents and record lessons required for teaching online using experienced teachers and professional team leaders.

Video lessons should not exceed 15 minutes for first and second grades and 20 minutes for others.

Vietnamese lessons should be designed to help first-grade students familiarise themselves with the language easily, and have additional review exercises for second grade students.

First-grade teachers are encouraged to create short clips to help parents prepare their children to study online.

All video lessons should be recorded at least one week before the scheduled start of the new academic year in mid-September.

The education sub-departments in Thủ Đức City and 21 districts will be in charge of checking the contents of their videos and ensuring the effectiveness of online teaching.

Teachers should connect with parents to help them support their children.

This year the city plans to have the annual opening ceremony too online.

It expects some 1.7 million students to attend school this year.

It went into lockdown with strict social distancing measures under Directive No.16 on July 9, and recently extended it for a second time until September 15. — VNS