On September 10, at the Nam Yen village cultural house (Hoa Bac commune), the leaders of the District Party Committee, the People's Committee of Hoa Vang district (Da Nang city) and relevant agencies organized a dialogue with parents of Nam Yen village, who did not send their children to the new school facility that was just built for 25 billion VND in Pho Nam village.
According to Thanh Nien reporters' investigation, when moving from Hoa Bac Primary School (Nam Yen village school) to the new campus in Pho Nam village, the distance is less than 2 km. Since the opening day on September 5 until now, dozens of parents have not brought their children to the new school (in Pho Nam village) to study but brought their children to the old campus in Nam Yen village (where teaching is no longer organized) to express their wish for their children to study at the old school.
Why don't parents send their children to school?
At the dialogue, Mr. Dinh Xuan Vu (resident of Nam Yen village) said that Nam Yen school has a total of 117 students, the most compared to schools in villages in Hoa Bac commune, so merging with the new school in Pho Nam village is not reasonable. The new school was also flooded, so parents are worried about the safety of their children if flash floods suddenly occur.
Mr. Ho Tang Hoc, Head of Nam Yen village, said that on August 20, 2023, the People's Committee of Hoa Bac commune coordinated with Hoa Bac Primary School to organize a meeting with parents of students in all grades in the Nam Yen school area to survey the implementation of consolidation to the main school in Pho Nam village.
Through the meeting, parents in Nam Yen village understood that this was a good policy aimed at creating the necessary conditions for students to participate in studying in a better environment, improving the overall quality of their education. However, in a short time, parents were not mentally prepared, many parents did not have the conditions to transfer their children to study at a new school...
People in Nam Yen village point out the difficulties and dangers when students go to school at the new facility in Pho Nam village.
"Most parents work as factory workers, so their children have to rely on their grandparents to take them to school or the children go to school themselves. But now the school is far away so grandparents cannot take them, and the children cannot go to school themselves because of many dangers such as floods, storms," said the head of Nam Yen village.
In addition, some 4th and 5th graders can go to school by themselves, but their families do not have the means to buy vehicles (bicycles, electric bicycles) for them.
"The consolidation of schools also affects the livelihoods of households doing business around Nam Yen school because there are no students and they cannot do business. For these reasons, households propose that in the long term, they should ask for and invest in repairing Nam Yen school. Parents also request that the government support transportation for students in grades 4 and 5 when studying at Hoa Bac Primary School. At the same time, temporarily let students in grades 1, 2, and 3 study at Nam Yen school to ensure safety during the rainy and stormy season as well as to prepare people mentally," said Mr. Ho Tang Hoc.
Most parents want their children to study at the old school in Nam Yen village.
Locality committed to support
After listening to the opinions of parents, Mr. Nguyen Thuc Dung, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoa Vang District, said that 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, evaluated, and consolidated remote schools with the goal of organizing teaching, better management, and improving the quality of learning.
"Hoa Vang District has been merging satellite schools into the main school for 10 years now. Investing in building new schools is to meet the teaching equipment requirements of the 2018 General Education Program. Therefore, Da Nang City invested in building the main school, Hoa Bac Primary School, to bring students from satellite schools to the main school to facilitate better teaching and higher quality...", Mr. Dung affirmed.
Mr. To Van Hung, Secretary of Hoa Vang District Party Committee (left) and Mr. Nguyen Thuc Dung, Vice Chairman of Hoa Vang District People's Committee, answered people's opinions at the dialogue session.
Explaining further about the announcement of consolidation at Hoa Bac Primary School, Mr. Dung stated that the relevant agencies have notified and disseminated information to all voters in Nam Yen village and that voters have also discussed with the Hoa Bac commune government at the most recent voter meetings. Voters' opinions have also been answered and resolved in writing by all levels.
"In August 2023, Hoa Bac Primary School and the People's Committee of Hoa Bac commune held two meetings to propagate and mobilize parents in Nam Yen village to comply with the above school consolidation policy," Mr. Dung emphasized.
According to Mr. Dung, the consolidation of schools in the district has a specific implementation roadmap: at preschool and primary levels, 6 schools will be reduced in the 2021-2022 school year; 6 schools will be reduced in the 2022-2023 school year.
The planning and construction of the new school in Pho Nam also has a radius of less than 2 km compared to other schools (including the old Nam Yen school), so it is basically convenient for parents to pick up and drop off their children, without violating the regulations on distance between schools according to the Primary School Charter (Ministry of Education and Training).
Hoa Bac Primary School was newly built in Pho Nam village with nearly 25 billion VND.
"If students continue to study at Nam Yen village school, they will be limited in accessing an educational environment with better facilities, equipment, and modern teaching aids, which will greatly affect the quality of local education as well as the implementation of the 2018 General Education Program. Therefore, merging Nam Yen village school to Pho Nam village is very appropriate, ensuring the rights of students," Mr. Dung stated.
At the dialogue, Mr. To Van Hung, Secretary of Hoa Vang District Party Committee, affirmed that the government and relevant agencies are ready to support parents to send their children to new schools soon and resolve any remaining difficulties.
"Currently, to educate children comprehensively, many things are needed. In addition to knowledge and skills, students also need to exercise their bodies. The old school only had a few classrooms, so it could not have the entire system to provide comprehensive education," Mr. Hung shared.
Regarding the difficulty in picking up and dropping off students, the Secretary of the Hoa Vang District Party Committee requested the government and relevant agencies to calculate and arrange people and vehicles to pick up and drop off children of families who do not have the means (such as parents working far away, children having to live with grandparents). Mr. Hung proposed a solution: for children in grades 4 and 5, if the family is in difficulty and cannot buy a bicycle, the government will mobilize organizations to buy bicycles to give to the children.
For households doing business around the old school in Nam Yen village who have lost income, Mr. Hung said he will consider each specific case to support their livelihoods and ensure their lives.
"As the leader, I would like to reaffirm to parents that what was said in this dialogue will be implemented. Parents must know how to sacrifice some of their personal interests to send their children to school, ensuring children's right to education," Mr. Hung emphasized.
The two solutions have yet to find "common ground"
Afterwards, Mr. Ho Tang Phuc, Chief of Office of Hoa Vang District Party Committee, summarized 2 solutions to solve the problem, and at the same time requested the local authorities to meet and discuss with the parents of 54 students to summarize and submit to the competent authority for consideration.
Option 1: Let students in grades 1, 2, and 3 study at the old school (Nam Yen village) until the end of the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year, and then move to the new school (Pho Nam village) in the second semester; and students in grades 4 and 5 will move to the newly built school in Pho Nam village right now.
Option 2: All students of all grades agree to transfer to study at the new school in Pho Nam village.
However, after the representative of Hoa Vang District Party Committee proposed two options, many parents unexpectedly left while the dialogue was still taking place. In the end, the local government and the parents once again failed to find a "common voice".
Previously, Thanh Nien reported that dozens of parents in Nam Yen village opposed the consolidation of schools, saying that the new school in Pho Nam village was too far from home and the road was dangerous during the rainy season. Students traveling across Pho Nam bridge to school would be in danger because the bridge railings were designed to be too wide apart...
After that, the District Party Committee, the People's Committee of Hoa Vang District and the People's Committee of Hoa Bac Commune organized dialogues many times. However, at the dialogues, dozens of parents did not attend, so the two sides could not find a "common voice", including the dialogue today, September 10. And so, until now, there are still more than 50 students who have not come to class (at the new school) when the new school year has passed for 1 week.
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