A volunteer helps to bring textbooks to parents of students in District 8 (Photo: SGGP)
Middle and high schools in the southern metropolis will begin the new school year program from September 6 and primary schools will start on September 20 as per the school year plan.
However, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training’s survey, about 8.5 percent of students in primary schools and four percent of students in junior and senior high schools can’t participate in online learning.
Specifically, out of nearly 700,000 students in middle and high schools, about 17,000 students who do not have both equipment and Internet connection to participate in online learning, more than 5,000 students have devices but do not have an Internet connection.
Approximately 8,5 percent of primary students are not eligible for online learning. Out of 647,253 primary school students, 19,669 students do not have equipment while 3,633 families do not have Internet access and 11,186 students do not have a support person, and students living in the countryside cannot attend online classes.
Many parents revealed that they have been unable to buy electronic devices such as tablets, laptops, smartphones for their children’s participation in online learning because of the difficult delivery. Electronics stores announced to deliver as early as mid-September.
As a result, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training has directed schools to continue studying each student’s condition to have appropriate support.
Teachers should instruct those in the countryside who are unable to study on the internet to register for learning at the localities they are residing in or send remote learning materials to their parents.
Local administrations and schools will jointly send paper textbooks to students in blocked areas or isolation districts.
Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training Nguyen Van Hieu said the Department of Education and Training in collaboration with Ho Chi Minh City Television Station will broadcast teaching programs on television from September 15.
According to the Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training Nguyen Van Hieu, in the first two weeks of the new school year, students will not learn two shifts a day but they ought to focus on implementing teaching topics on the Internet and self-study at homes instead.
Students learn on internet
In the new school year, Minh Duc Secondary School in District 1 has made statistics that about 100 students do not have enough online learning equipment.
Since many students don’t have laptops or smartphones for virtual learning, Minh Duc school Principal Tran Thuy An and teachers of computer science created a link to call for the contribution of parents and benefactors.
Up to now, the school has received a sum of money donated by philanthropists that can buy 20 smartphones and secondhand smartphones. The school leader said that they will hand devices over to students.
Similarly, Do Minh Hoang, director of the Chu Van An Continuing Education Center in District 5, said that the unit has have made a public appeal for the donation of used computers to students from low-income families. After these old computers will be upgraded and shipped to students of poor families for online learning. As of August 30, five computers have been given to students.
