A sign is put up in front of the PennSchool campus on Ba Tháng Hai Street on August 24 to announce the expiration of its lease venue with the Ho Chi Minh City campus of the Academy of Public Administration and Governance. — Photo tuoitre.vn

HCM CITY — The education authority in Hòa Hưng Ward, HCM City, has responded to the sudden closure of an international school campus under its jurisdiction ahead of the new school year.

Nguyễn Thành Trung, head of Hòa Hưng Ward’s culture and social affairs division, told the media on late Monday that the school has been required to provide information about the campus’s closure and to inform concerned parents in an in-person meeting.

“We are preparing alternative schooling options for the students, which will be provided upon parents’ requests,” he said.

The campus, located on Ba Tháng Hai Street and part of the PennSchool international school system, was reported by several media outlets to have suddenly announced its closure on August 24, the day it was supposed to open for students for back-to-school activities.

Parents who took their children to the campus were met with a sign that said the venue had been recalled after a lease expired between the campus and the Ho Chi Minh City campus of the Academy of Public Administration and Governance, according to media reports.

The campus had 477 students at the time of closure.

According to Trung, the school has told the authorities that it is working to extend the venue lease for the campus.

The main campus, located on Trần Bình Trọng Street, has the capacity to take in 400 students, which is where parents who do not wish to wait for the reopening of the Ba Tháng Hai campus may transfer their children to, the school said.

“The ward People's Committee has notified public schools under its jurisdiction to prepare to take in students should parents wish to transfer their children there,” Trung said.

Public schools in Hòa Hưng Ward guarantee sufficient places for all students, he added.

The ward will send a representative to the parent meeting when it’s held to gauge their needs and provide support, he said.

It’s been reported by several media outlets that the sudden campus closure caused several parents to worry about their children not having a place to study in the new school year. — VNS