Many children drop out of school because of travel difficulties.

The 2-storey building of Lam Phu Secondary School was eroded. Photo: Dinh Minh.

On September 10, due to prolonged heavy rain, more than 6,000 cubic meters of soil and rock behind the hill in Don village slid into the back of Lam Phu Secondary School, which was under construction. As a result, the 2-story school building with 8 classrooms and the administrative building - the department under renovation collapsed with a length of about 75m, about 13m high, completely collapsing the restroom area.

In addition, rocks and soil also flooded into the first floor, seriously affecting the structure of the building (pillars were tilted, broken, exposed steel; foundation and wall cracks; high risk of collapse).

Faced with the above situation, on September 20, the People's Committee of Lang Chanh district decided to evacuate all 263 students and 13 teachers of Lam Phu Secondary School to study at 2 campuses of Lam Phu Primary School (grade 6 studying at a separate campus in Chao Pi village; grades 7, 8, 9 studying at the main campus in Boc village). By September 23, the students had begun to return to school.

According to Mr. Le Danh Son - Principal of Lam Phu Secondary School, the remote location in Chao Pi village is only about 500m from the school, while the main location in Boc village is nearly 8km from the school. During the first days of temporary study, the geographical distance started to cause big problems for students and teachers of the school.

Ms. Luong Thi Hanh - Literature teacher, homeroom teacher of class 9B (Lam Phu Secondary School) said: Since moving to the new school, many students in the class had to drop off school because the school was far from home, and their parents were busy and could not pick them up. "My class has Luong Van Quyen, who lives in Na Dang village, 17km from Lam Phu Primary School. Since returning to school, Quyen has only come to class once. When I called to ask, he said that his parents work far away so there was no one to pick him up, and even if he cycled, he would not be able to get to school in time" - Ms. Hanh shared.

Not only are students affected, but for teachers, having to constantly “run” between two schools also makes them very tired. “Due to the mountainous terrain, steep slopes, and bad roads, traveling in Lam Phu is very difficult. Not to mention, if we encounter an accident on the road, we may miss or delay classes, affecting the teaching of the students,” said Ms. Hanh.

Ms. Le Thi Tho - homeroom teacher of class 6A, teaching Geography (Lam Phu Secondary School) said: Of the 13 teachers at the school, 4 are currently staying at the commune cultural house, 3 teachers are asking to stay at local people's houses and vacant rooms of Lam Phu Primary School. This incurs expenses and is quite inconvenient in daily life. "Before, in the dormitory, everyone bought food to cook. However, since coming here, everything is lacking, the rooms are small, the space is too narrow so there is only enough room for a table and a bed. It is embarrassing to ask for food at local people's houses, and there are no shops, so these past few days, I have been eating instant noodles. As for bathing and hygiene, it is the most difficult problem, as the bathrooms and toilets here are quite makeshift" - Ms. Tho said.

Mr. Le Danh Son said: “The school board is encouraging everyone to try to overcome these difficult days. As for the students, we are quite worried as many cases of absenteeism have begun to appear due to difficult travel. If this situation continues, I am afraid it will affect the students' studies and exams” – Mr. Son said, at the same time hoping that the Lang Chanh District People's Committee will soon handle the landslide that fell onto the unfinished construction site near the mountain so that the school can return to its old location for teaching and learning.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Son - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Lang Chanh district said: On September 23, the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province issued a decision to declare an emergency situation of landslides at Lam Phu Secondary School, assigning the People's Committee of Lang Chanh district to inspect, survey, and specifically assess the scope, scale, and level of landslides and determine solutions, report to competent authorities for consideration, and support funding to build a school in a new location. "Currently, the District People's Committee has assigned functional departments to conduct inspection and survey steps at the new location. In the immediate future, the area where the school is under construction is at high risk of collapse. In the coming time, it will be demolished to ensure the safety of the school behind. When it is finished, the school will return to its old location for teaching and learning," said Mr. Son.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/vu-sut-lo-truong-thcs-lam-phu-thanh-hoa-nhieu-em-nghi-hoc-vi-di-lai-kho-khan-10291210.html