Parents worried

Le Thi Tuyet Nhung in Hanoi's Tay Ho District has a son who is studying in the 11th grade at a local school. The school has reopened for on-site classes for only two weeks but has reported nearly 50 Covid-19 infections.

"My son's class has confirmed four cases," she said. "These four students and 13 others who had close contact with them have returned to online study from home. I'm very worried as I've heard about the virus spreading to many other schools."

Another parent, Trinh Thi Huong in Ba Dinh District, said that her 13-year-old daughter has just returned to online studying after coming into contact with a Covid-19 case in her class.

"I'm worried and my daughter is sad because she wants to come to class to meet her friends," Huong said. "She will need close monitoring for a week and can only return to on-site classes after testing negative for the virus on the seventh day."

Nguyen Thanh Nhan in Thanh Tri District said that the class of his 12-year-old son has returned to online study after two weeks as many students have been infected with Covid-19.

"We're facing difficulties arranging our time and work due to the changes," she said.

Teachers tired

While having the same worries with parents, local teachers are facing lots of challenges as they have to adjust their lesson plans for both on-site and online classes.

An English teacher in Thanh Tri District, Thuy Hanh, said that it took her lots of time to prepare her lesson plans so that both on-site and online students can follow them properly.

"The schools have installed cameras at the class so that Covid-19 infected students can watch live from home," the teacher said. "Although we have all tried, both teachers and online students are still facing difficulties in maintaining links with each other."

Mai Anh who teaches literature at a school in Ba Dinh District said that she was busier with on-site classes in the morning and online classes in the afternoon.

"We don't have cameras at classes so we’re gathering all Covid-19 infected students and their F1s to online classes that study in the afternoon," she said. "The number of students in my on-site classes is falling, with some classes having between five to 10 students. Meanwhile, online classes are becoming overloaded."

Teacher Mai Anh said that her school is facing a teacher shortage as some teachers have also been infected with the virus.

"The online classes are having overloaded and this has affected our teaching and studying quality," she said. "But we are all trying our bests to overcome this difficult time."

Hanoi authorities have just cancelled plans to reopen schools for pupils of grades 1 to 6 in 12 inner-city districts following concerns over the spread of Covid-19.

Meanwhile, schools in suburban districts have all reopened from February 10.

The capital city is now the country's biggest epicentre with over 4,000 cases confirmed daily.

Source: Dtinews

Hanoi postpones school reopenning plan for grades 1 to 6 in inner districts

Hanoi on February 18 adjusted the plan to allow students from grades one to six in 12 inner districts to return to school for face-to-face learning from February 21.