Hundreds of parents let their children stay home from school, hang banners to protest school merger

On the afternoon of March 27, at the request of their parents, 457 students of Nguyen Ba Ngoc Primary School, Trieu Son town, Trieu Son district (Thanh Hoa) simultaneously stopped going to school to protest the merger into Le Van Tam Primary School.

Parents let their children stay home because they think the school merger will force their children to go to school further away, and that going through the provincial road is very dangerous.

“The elderly are mainly responsible for taking the children to and from school, and the 2km journey is very dangerous. Nguyen Ba Ngoc School has been with many generations since ancient times, so we want to keep the school,” said a parent.

Parents let their children stay home from school to protest the school merger. (Photo: Tran Nghi)

In addition, people also gave the reason that Nguyen Ba Ngoc school's facilities are more spacious and there are more students (more than 450 students, Le Van Tam school has more than 200 students).

Mr. Le Xuan Chinh (a parent) said that he and his wife work all day, so his mother has to take her two children to school 4 times a day. Traveling far and crossing provincial roads is dangerous for both the students and the person taking them to school.

According to Mr. Chinh, his children are also absent from school this afternoon. If he transfers schools, they will not come to class anymore.

Hanging protest banners. (Photo: Le Duong)

Mr. Pham Trong Dung, Principal of Nguyen Ba Ngoc Primary School, said that in February 2024, the school received notice of the school merger and plans to merge before the second quarter of 2024.

“To protest the merger, this afternoon, parents stood at the school gate to protest, putting pressure on students not to come to class. If parents continue to keep their children at home, we will report to higher authorities,” said Mr. Dung.

Mr. Pham Van Thuong, Chairman of Trieu Son Town People's Committee, said that the merger is a policy: "According to the step-by-step process, we and the school will meet with parents to inform them about this. Parents should not let their children drop out of school as this will affect their studies."

Nguyen Ba Ngoc Primary School. (Photo: Tran Nghi)

On February 21, the Standing Committee of Trieu Son District Party Committee announced its agreement to merge Nguyen Ba Ngoc and Le Van Tam primary schools to hand over the current campus of Nguyen Ba Ngoc Primary School to To Vinh Dien Secondary School, in order to gradually invest in upgrading and expanding in accordance with capital capacity.

The People's Committee of Trieu Son district also directed the Department of Education and Training to advise the People's Committee of the district to report to the Department of Education and Training on the policy of merging two schools into one school to prepare for the 2024-2025 school year; to be completed no later than March 20.

(Source: Vietnamnet)

Link: https://vietnamnet.vn/phu-huynh-o-thanh-hoa-dong-loat-cho-con-nghi-hoc-de-phan-doi-sap-nhap-truong-2264289.html

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