Localities rush to prepare for the new school year

Especially in places where storms and floods have just passed, the work of repairing schools and classrooms to welcome students back on the opening day has been extremely urgent.

Teachers "race" with mud

According to the plan, on the morning of August 4, teachers of Chieng So Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities (Muong Luan Commune, Dien Bien ) had to gather at the school to prepare for the new school year. But before that, a flash flood swept through the school, forcing teachers to immediately leave in anxiety and danger.

“After the water receded, I couldn’t hold back my tears when I saw the classroom submerged in mud, teaching equipment and even students’ daily necessities submerged in water,” said teacher Tran Dang Bo.

Not only in Chieng So, Suoi Lu 3 School (Suoi Lu Kindergarten, Muong Luan Commune, Dien Bien) was also devastated after the flood. More than 35 students are at risk of delaying their return to school due to safety concerns. Ms. Luong Thi Thao - a teacher at the school said: "Over the years, we and the parents have built a clean and beautiful learning environment for the children. But after a fierce flood, everything was swept away. One classroom was completely damaged, another had its roof blown off..."

Ms. Tran Thi Quy - Principal of Suoi Lu Kindergarten said that due to the lack of safe classrooms, the school had to temporarily borrow the council room at the central location to teach and sent an open letter asking for support to renovate and rebuild.

After the flood, many schools in Dien Bien are urgently trying to improve the learning conditions. At Bang Choc school (Na Phat Kindergarten, Na Son commune), the water rose up to 3 meters high, equipment, books, playgrounds, and fences were all damaged or washed away. The damage was estimated at 630 million VND. As soon as the water receded, the school, parents, local police, and soldiers urgently cleaned up and transported usable items to the temporary learning site.

Ms. Mai Thi Thu Huyen - Principal of Na Phat Kindergarten said: "We have asked to borrow the village cultural house to use as a classroom. Electricity and water are being urgently repaired, but the road to the school is still seriously eroded, making travel very difficult."

Pa Vat 1 School (Pa Vat Kindergarten, Muong Luan Commune, Dien Bien) is also in the same situation. More than 60 students are at risk of having their school start date delayed due to unsafe conditions. Many classrooms were buried by rocks and soil, and the playground and fences were severely damaged. Teachers and parents mobilized all their manpower, working hard every day to clean up mud, wash tables and chairs, temporarily repair roofs, and rebuild fences to ensure safety before welcoming students.

To revive the school

According to the Dien Bien Province Department of Education , the current level of damage means that the cost of restoring facilities could reach tens of billions of VND, far beyond the capacity of schools and local budgets. Repairing, building new, and replacing learning equipment and boarding supplies all require large and urgent resources, as there are only a few days left before the new school year begins.

In addition to focusing on repairing infrastructure, schools in flood-hit areas also have to find temporary accommodation for boarding students. Many schools have had to borrow halls and village cultural houses to use as classrooms; kitchens and food storage areas have also been washed away or damaged, making it difficult to organize meals for boarding students. Teachers have been teaching while reinforcing classrooms, repairing kitchens, and even spending their own money to buy essential items for students.

The stories in Pa Vat, Bang Choc, Suoi Lu, Chieng So are just a few slices in the difficult picture of education in the mountainous region of Dien Bien. However, amidst the devastation, the spirit of overcoming difficulties of teachers and students, the consensus of parents and people are still persistent. With the sharing of the community, the schools in the mountainous region will soon revive, steadfast in the face of natural disasters, warmed by the sound of the opening drum.

The Education sector has proposed the Central Government and the People's Committee of Dien Bien province to provide emergency support, as well as supplement the budget from national target programs and social security policies to soon stabilize teaching and learning in the flood-hit areas.

Urgently complete facilities

In Ca Mau, the leader of Phan Ngoc Hien High School (Bac Lieu Ward) said that the school has just been granted the authority to invest in building 45 rooms, including 28 new classrooms and learning support facilities with a total cost of more than 70 billion VND. After a period of urgent construction, the works have now been completed and are ready to be put into service for the new school year.

At Tan Bang Secondary and High School (Bien Bach Commune, Ca Mau), the construction and repair of classrooms is being carried out urgently every day. “This school year, the school has been provided with 10 new classrooms; 20 classrooms have been repaired; more practice rooms and laboratory equipment have been added; sidewalks have been upgraded, along with related items… aiming to reach National standards level 1.

The total investment cost is about 20 billion VND from socialized sources. The construction items started at the end of April 2025, and to date, more than half of the work has been completed. The contractor is committed to speeding up the progress and completing the project before the opening day of school," the school representative informed.

Similarly, Phu Hung Secondary School (Luong The Tran Commune, Ca Mau) was completely rebuilt with a 3-storey building, including classrooms, functional rooms, administrative area, fences, garage, toilets, etc. with a budget of about 25 billion VND. Currently, about 70% of the work has been completed.

“Having a new, spacious, clean and fully equipped school is a long-standing desire of the school community. Therefore, during the summer months, the school leaders spend time regularly visiting the construction site, supervising the construction, and encouraging the contractor to ensure progress and quality so that the project can be completed and put into use soon, contributing to improving the quality of teaching and learning,” said Mr. Do Hoang Ho Liep Hai - Principal of Phu Hung Secondary School.

Mr. Ta Thanh Vu - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ca Mau said that the entire education sector of Ca Mau is urgently speeding up the progress of construction, repair, upgrading, and completing facilities to welcome students back to school, entering the new school year - the first school year after the province's merger.

“Regarding implementation costs, localities will prioritize maximum resources according to budget allocation to invest in and repair facilities, purchase equipment and teaching aids, ensuring timely service for the opening of the new school year 2025-2026. In cases where localities are too difficult to balance funding sources for implementation, the Department will synthesize and coordinate with the Department of Finance to advise the Provincial People's Committee to consider and decide.

For units and schools under the Department, the competent authority has assigned to carry out the work of renovating and repairing schools in 2025, phase 1 with an amount of 16.2 billion VND and phase 2 with an amount of 11.6 billion VND. The Department requests that school units urgently implement the correct procedures; organize construction, supervise the project to ensure quality, on schedule according to the contract and complete the project to put it into use before the new school year in accordance with current regulations", Mr. Ta Thanh Vu informed.

Ensure that "where there are students, there must be teachers in the classroom"

Along with investing in infrastructure, the Education sector of Ca Mau province is interested in perfecting human resources to serve the new school year. According to statistics, after the merger, the total number of managers and teachers in the whole province is 24,266 people, lacking nearly 1,980 positions. According to the leader of the Department of Education and Training of Ca Mau, the current decentralization in teacher recruitment has overlaps, making it difficult to develop a plan to recruit civil servants for the Education sector according to regulations.

“The Department has directed the urgent review of the teaching staff at all levels, and the development of recruitment plans for public educational institutions in the area to ensure compliance with legal regulations, in order to supplement the source of teachers for the 2025-2026 school year.

Advise the Provincial People's Committee to direct localities to arrange and allocate teachers appropriately according to the assigned payroll, overcome the local surplus and shortage of teachers in educational institutions; ensure the principle of "where there are students, there must be teachers in the classroom" but must be suitable for practice and effectiveness, especially in remote areas and ethnic minority areas", Mr. Ta Thanh Vu - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ca Mau informed.

In addition to staffing, the Education sector of Ca Mau province also focuses on improving the quality of the existing staff. Accordingly, the sector has consulted on the development of a Project on Developing Teachers and Managers of Preschool and General Education Institutions for the period 2026 - 2030 with a vision to 2045.

In the immediate future, in 2025, the provincial Department of Education and Training will organize training to upgrade the standards of 124 general education teachers; regular training for more than 3,500 school managers and teachers; and training in integrated subject teaching for 220 teachers to meet the requirements of educational innovation.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/cac-dia-phuong-gap-rut-chuan-bi-don-nam-hoc-moi-post743891.html