Students at Lý Cảnh Hớn Primary School in HCM City's District 5 are ready to enter the 6th grades. Photo courtesy of tuoitre.vn

HCM CITY —  The student school enrollment period in Thủ Đức City and other HCM City districts will be suspended to ensure safety amid the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Kindergartens, and primary and secondary schools in HCM City will not receive direct enrollment papers during the social distancing period. 

“Whether or not to extend the enrollment period through August will depend on the epidemic situation,” Nguyễn Văn Hiếu, deputy director in charge of the HCM City Department of Education and Training, told Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper.

Schools are allowed to do certain things online as long as they ensure distancing requirements and epidemic prevention measures under Directive 16.

Online registration

Nguyễn Thành Văn, head of District 10 Division of Education and Training, said that students’ enrollment process was being carried out online and parents would continue to register their children following the timeline previously designated by the district People’s Committee.

The school, after receiving parents’ online enrollment registration notices, will confirm and send further announcements to parents via their registered phone number.

However, schools will not announce the official admission period or receive admission documents from parents.

Parents are advised to call the school admission staff if they have any problem with online enrollment, Văn said.

For students that have recently moved to District 10, ward-level People’s Committees will review the list and require them to submit their documents online. The enrollment period might be delayed depending on the epidemic situation.

Trần Trọng Khiêm, deputy head of Tân Phú District Division of Education and Training, said that the district has completely stopped enrolling students in preschools, and grade 1 and grade 6 classes.

“According to the direction of the city Department of Education and Training, parents should not run back and forth to inquire about enrollment status. Tân Phú District has completely suspended all school enrollment processes, including online applications,” Khiêm added.

Đặng Nguyễn Thịnh, head of the District 7 Division of Education and Training, said that the school enrollment process was being continued via online software.

To implement social distancing under Directive 16, all preschools, primary and secondary schools in the district were told to set up an email system and Zalo groups to make it convenient for parents to easily compare their records between what they have submitted online earlier and on Zalo or emails.

Thịnh said that despite the process of comparing records via Zalo and emails, parents need to prepare a hard-copy version of their original documents when schools open again.

Dương Văn Dân, head of the District 8 Division of Education and Training, said that the online enrollment period for preschools, primary and secondary schools in the district would end on July 31. 

The department will make further announcements to parents depending on the epidemic situation.

With new students that have just transferred to the district, District 8 may not have sufficient time to update their full list. Thus, their parents can contact schools or the district Division of Education of Training during the social distancing period to ensure a slot for their children in the next academic school year.

Parents can ask for an extension of the enrollment period after July 31. — VNS