Schools are temporarily closed, parents are struggling to find ways to send their children.

At 6am, Ms. Nguyen Minh Anh (38 years old, Dong Da district, Hanoi) turned on her phone to check the weather forecast. The screen showed that the weather this morning in Hanoi was only 8 degrees Celsius. She was wondering whether to let her child stay home or go to school.

"Both my husband and I are civil servants and state employees. My grandparents are in the countryside. We don't know where to send our children," said Ms. Minh Anh.

After some deliberation, the couple decided to leave their child with a neighbor. Not every family can find a solution to a child suddenly dropping out of school, especially when the couple has two children, the older one in 5th grade and the younger one in 1st grade.

Some parents still send their children to school. (Photo: Dac Huy)

Also having two children in elementary school, the family of Mr. Bui Ngoc Bao (42 years old, Ngoc Thuy, Long Bien) did not know where to send their children after receiving a notice from the school for students to stay home due to the weather outside being below 10 degrees Celsius.

Both he and his wife work as office workers in transportation, so the end of the year is quite busy, making it difficult to ask for leave to stay home and look after the children.

"Upon receiving the news, my wife and I quickly asked the company for leave but were refused. Therefore, we had to call a taxi to take our child to my grandmother's house, more than 20km away, to leave him for a few days, waiting for the cold spell to pass," Mr. Bao shared.

Having regularly checked the weather forecast over the past few days, Ms. Le Thi Hai (36 years old, Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi) quickly asked her grandparents to find someone from the countryside to come and look after the weather for a few days.

Because it was the end of the year harvest season and she couldn’t find anyone, Ms. Hai had to ask for help from the centers. However, because the rental period was short, the rental price was very high, from 300,000 to 500,000 VND/day.

The rent is high, and they don't feel secure about handing over their house and children to strangers, so the couple agreed to leave their children at a spontaneous daycare center in the apartment building where they live.

According to Ms. Hai, this form of childcare is being chosen by many parents during the days when their children are off school due to the cold because they can rest assured leaving their children with acquaintances in the building, plus the price is also reasonable from 150,000 - 250,000 VND/child/day.

However, due to high demand, spontaneous daycare centers only accept children from 4 years old and up. Parents send breakfast and milk for the whole day, while the owner only cooks lunch for the children. Each such center accepts a maximum of 3-6 children/day.

According to information from the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, at 6:00 a.m. on January 23, the temperature in Hanoi measured in Ha Dong was 9.9 degrees Celsius. Based on the forecast temperature and regulations of the Department of Education and Training, kindergartens and primary schools in the city simultaneously informed parents not to send their children to school, let them stay home and study online to ensure their health.

Ms. Pham Dam Thuc Hanh, Head of the Department of Education and Training of Hoang Mai (Hanoi) informed that this morning, students in the district stayed home from school because the weather in the capital area was below 10 degrees Celsius.

"Schools strictly follow the policy of letting students stay home to avoid the cold, putting students' health first," said Ms. Hanh, adding that in cases where families are busy and cannot arrange to look after their children, schools will still arrange for students to go to class, keep them warm, and organize appropriate teaching activities for them.

In addition to maintaining open classes to welcome students and supporting parents in difficulty finding places to send their children, many schools also delay class start times to 8:30 - 9:00 a.m. and turn on air conditioning and heating to make it easier for children to get to school and avoid the cold.

Ms. Pham Thi Le Hang, Head of the Department of Education and Training of Ha Dong District (Hanoi), said that for some families who do not have the conditions to look after their children, even when the temperature is below 10 degrees Celsius, schools in Ha Dong District are always open to welcome students, creating favorable conditions for parents to go to work.

"The Department of Education and Training also requires schools to have plans to make up for the number of students absent from school, depending on the number of students. Schools will flexibly welcome students who are late to school due to weather conditions during these days," said Ms. Hang.

The Department has also asked schools to prepare conditions for warm water, warm towels, warm food as well as re-check classrooms to ensure they are airtight.

Schools at all levels will proactively decide when to start and end school. In the area, most secondary schools start classes between 7:15 and 7:30 a.m.; primary schools from 7:45 to 8 a.m. and preschools from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

Previously, a representative of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training said that for some inner-city schools, the facilities are very good, transportation is convenient, sending children to school is also a good option if the family has a necessary need. Based on the general regulations issued by the Department, schools can be flexible to suit, on the basis of what is best for the health of students, with the consent of parents.

Taking care of children on cold days requires schools to be more meticulous, with more suitable food menus, enough warm water for children to clean up, and warm classrooms. Even if some students arrive very late due to the cold weather, the school still has to pick them up, and is not too strict about the time.

The Hanoi Department of Education and Training recommends that schools should not organize outdoor activities for students; need to ensure students' health when organizing outdoor physical education classes; and not require students to wear uniforms if the weather is too cold.

Khanh Son

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