A student studies at home with her mother's help during the school closure. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Tùng

HÀ NỘI — Despite teachers’ efforts to continue teaching and advising students online amid the coronavirus outbreak, Vietnamese parents have expressed deep concerns over their children’s academic progress during the prolonged school closure.  

Schools are offering alternatives to help students study at home via online platforms. Teachers at Đà Nẵng's Võ Thị Sáu Primary School have developed and filmed lectures using special software.

“We are worried that students may forget what they have learned due to the lengthy absence, so we have posted these lessons online for them to work at home,” said teacher Nguyễn Thị Lê Hà.

Not all teachers are tech-savvy, so it was a real challenge for them to make these lectures from scratch, she added.

Huỳnh Thị Thanh Hoè, the school’s vice principal, said online teaching had been approved by many parents.

“Hải Châu District's Department of Education and Training has asked local schools to mark homework on Zalo and Facebook during the school closure,” said the department head, Trần Thị Thuý Hà.

She highlighted the parents’ co-operation with home-schooling.

Nguyễn Lan Hương in Quảng Trị Province’s Đông Hà City said her children, eighth grade twins and a first grader, had not learned anything new as their schools did not offer online classes.

“It is all about revising,” she said. “I have to download and print worksheets from school websites for them to do at home.”

Hương told Việt Nam News that the eldest sisters found it quite simple to self-study but their younger sibling had forgotten how to hold a pen.

“Teachers have special techniques to instruct young students how to write which parents cannot deliver,” she added.

However, Hương decided to not send her youngest child back to school.

“The twins will go back to school on February 17 as they are grown-up and know how to protect themselves,” she said.

Sharing the opinion, Nguyễn Đăng Nhật, whose son is a second grader at a private school in Quảng Trị Province, said he put health over knowledge.

“It is obvious that studying at home is not that effective since we have had no time to prepare,” he said. “However, I will try to help my son with his studies instead of sending him back to school as soon as possible.”

Vũ Khánh Linh from Hai Bà Trưng District whose seven-year-old daughter is a student at the Hà Nội Educational Technology School said the school had increased reading assignments and asked students to write reports on stories they read during the break.

“Although we have maintained close communication with teachers and parents, limited teaching skills have stopped us from really helping our children study at home,” she said.

“It is lucky that my daughter is just a first grader. I think families of last-year students are on edge,” Linh added.

With schools being closed, adults are having to stay at home to look after their children.

While Nhật has to work from home to help his son, Linh has asked her mother for help.

“My husband and I almost had to beg her to look after my daughter as we are unable to stay at home any longer,” she said.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, more than 50 higher education institutes had adjusted their schedules to allow students to stay at home to prevent coronavirus infections. — VNS