School Websites Have More Than Parents Need

According to some parents' feedback, when accessing the websites of the Department of Education and Training of some districts and schools, they feel that the information is not updated promptly and completely.

Having just registered for her child's first grade enrollment on the system, on June 15, Ms. HH (living in Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City) went to the Electronic Information Portal of the Department of Education and Training of this district, looking for the link to the electronic information portal of primary schools in the district to see the introduction of the schools, pictures of the schools... However, she felt quite disappointed.

"For example, I went to An Lac 1 Primary School on the evening of June 15. On the homepage, there was still information updated from 2020. The "latest information" section on the right side of the electronic information portal was updated at a distance. There was a news update on June 12, 2023, below it was news from April 2023 and right after that was news from December 2022," Ms. H. wondered.

Ms. H. also wanted to find articles with many pictures of the school, such as the campus, trees, classroom space, playground space... but only a few schools updated regularly with many new pictures.

At present, parents are registering their children for primary school admission, so the need to learn more about the school their children will attend is increasing. However, many people said they are not satisfied with the digital experience of the schools.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuc, a parent working in Nha Be District, Ho Chi Minh City, said she had visited her child's school website. "Some websites are slow, the fonts are small, the design structure on the page is confusing, I feel like the website is only provided in the subjective way of the provider and does not meet many of the things that parents want to see and read," Ms. Phuc said.

N MANY UNITS HAVE NOT UPDATED QUICKLY

Currently, the domain names of the Department of Education and Training and schools in Ho Chi Minh City are part of the main website of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City (subdomain). The Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City has a strong policy and initiative in digitizing the entire education sector. This has been shown in Document 3630 on the use of electronic information portal systems at educational institutions from the 2017-2018 school year.

However, according to a survey by Thanh Nien reporters, up to now, there are still many websites that are slow to update information or have confusing designs, not providing an easy experience on mobile devices - while currently the majority of people read information on smartphones.

On June 12, 2023, when we entered the Electronic Information Portal of the Department of Education and Training of Tan Phu District, we found that the computer version had very small fonts, was confusing, and difficult to see, but there was a separate version for mobile phones when accessed by smartphone. The contact phone number on the website of the Department of Education and Training of Binh Tan District could not be reached.

On the Electronic Information Portal of the Department of Education and Training of Nha Be District, much information has not been updated. On the homepage, there are still news such as New Year's greetings 2022, the closing ceremony of the 2021-2022 school year, honoring excellent students 2021-2022... The Electronic Information Portal of the Department of Education and Training of District 4 also has very little new news on the homepage. On the homepage, there is still information from 2021, 2022...

SO THAT PARENTS DO NOT "FORGET" THE SCHOOL WEBSITE

While some schools are slow to update information on their websites, many public education units have done a good job of this.

During the registration and confirmation of admission records for the first level, the website of the Department of Education and Training of Thu Duc City (HCMC) updates complete, fast and convenient information for parents in the process of finding information and registering.

Dinh Tien Hoang Primary School and Tran Hung Dao Primary School, Ho Chi Minh City are two of many educational institutions in District 1 that provide fast, vivid, detailed, and convenient information updates for parents.

Hong Duc Primary School, District 8, Ho Chi Minh City also does a very good job of updating information, posting activities of teachers and students, learning materials, information about programs, facilities, teaching staff, managers and employees; financial revenue and expenditure...

In the suburbs, Cau Xang Primary School, Hoc Mon District, Ho Chi Minh City also strives to bring a user-friendly website.

A representative of the Board of Directors of Hong Duc Primary School, District 8, said that the school's experience is that after activities, teachers and staff will compile images and information and send them to the clerical staff. The clerical staff will be responsible for updating information and images on the school website based on information that has been pre-approved by the school board. In addition, the school board will direct the department in charge to update documents, plans, announcements, financial disclosures, etc. on the website in a timely and accurate manner.