Parents protest school merger, dozens of students cannot go to school

On the afternoon of September 6, the District Party Committee, People's Committee of Hoa Vang District and People's Committee of Hoa Bac Commune (Da Nang City) organized a dialogue with parents of Nam Yen village after many parents did not let their children study at the newly built, spacious school that fully meets the teaching and learning requirements of students.

Only one parent attended the dialogue, many others did not go or refused to accept the invitation to participate in the dialogue.

More than 50 students are not allowed to go to school.

Reporting at the dialogue, the leader of Hoa Bac Primary School said that after 2 days of opening, more than 50 students were not allowed to go to school by their parents. They are all from Nam Yen village. The reason parents did not let their children go to the new school was because it was… far away. They demanded that the old school be reopened before they would let their children go to school.

“ The school has tried to persuade parents but they do not agree. I really hope that authorities will intervene so that the children can go to school and keep up with the curriculum, ” said the leader of Hoa Bac school.

The newly built Hoa Bac Primary School is spacious and fully meets the needs of teaching and learning.

According to Mr. Nguyen Thuc Dung, Vice Chairman of Hoa Vang District People's Committee, implementing the policy of the City Party Committee and the People's Committee of Da Nang City, the district's education sector has recently reviewed and evaluated satellite schools with the goal of organizing teaching and better management, and improving the quality of learning.

“ Hoa Vang district has been merging remote schools into main schools for 10 years now. When investing in building new schools and classrooms, the teaching equipment must meet the requirements of the 2018 general education program ,” said Mr. Dung.

Mr. Dung stated that the city invested in building the main campus of Hoa Bac Primary School to bring students from the satellite campuses to the main school to facilitate better teaching and higher quality.

The construction of the Pho Nam village has been completed, and the separate schools of Nam Yen, An Dinh, Loc My and Nam My villages have been consolidated into the new school. This is a consistent policy, and the people of An Dinh and Loc My villages are currently implementing it well. However, the people of Nam Yen village do not agree and do not let their children go to school.

Regarding the concern of many people: "Why not build a school in Nam Yen village but in Pho Nam village?", a representative of the People's Committee of Hoa Vang district said that the construction has been carefully researched and is in accordance with the previous planning.

Regarding the opinion that some traders in front of the old school lost their source of income and therefore did not agree to send their children to the new school, the leader of the People's Committee of Hoa Vang district affirmed that this was only one of the reasons and the government would have a support plan.

“ People cannot do business and face economic difficulties when students transfer to new schools. The government affirms that it will support them and not leave anyone behind ,” said the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoa Vang district.

Mr. To Van Hung, Secretary of Hoa Vang district shared at the dialogue.

'Parents take away their children's right to education'

Sharing information at the dialogue, Mr. To Van Hung, Secretary of Hoa Vang District Party Committee, affirmed that the policy of merging unqualified remote schools into main schools is the right policy. From a professional perspective, choosing Pho Nam village to build a large-scale school is appropriate.

In the general planning of Hoa Bac commune, Pho Nam village is the center of the commune with the city investing in infrastructure conditions. In addition, the merger aims to meet the best learning conditions for children.

Mr. Hung said that he himself went to the homes of some parents in Nam Yen village (parents who did not send their children to study at the new school in Pho Nam village) to listen to their thoughts and wishes. The people of Nam Yen village said that the new school was too far away, many people were workers, had to go to school early and come back late, it was not convenient to pick up and drop off, so it was unreasonable not to send their children to school.

“ I went to the field, turned on the meter to measure the distance, the farthest house from school is only about 2km, so saying it is far is not convincing. As for the matter of having to leave early and come home late because of work, which is not convenient for picking up and dropping off children, parents need to think again. The route parents take to work is also the route through the new school, so it is convenient. Parents cannot use that as an excuse to take away their children's right to education, ” said Mr. Hung.

Authorities are willing to require schools to open early to welcome students and to watch over students when parents come home late from work.

The old Hoa Bac Primary School is degraded and does not meet teaching and learning requirements.

“ If a 5th grader has a family in difficult circumstances, I am willing to call on donors to donate electric bicycles so that they can go to school soon. It is all for the students, I hope parents realize the right thing to do to send their children to school soon, the government must persuade parents to send their children to class, ” said Mr. Hung.

At the dialogue, the leader of Hoa Vang district also noted that the local government of Hoa Bac commune continues to mobilize and propagate to the people so that they understand the correct and humane policy.

Previously, during the opening ceremony of the new school year, parents of Nam Yen village did not send their children to the new school but organized to bring them to the old school to protest. The incident was later photographed and posted on social media by some people, who said that the government did not care about the students, and that the opening ceremony of the new school year was only attended by parents and students, without teachers.

CHAU THU

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