In the context that the COVID-19 pandemic still has potential risks of outbreak, significantly affecting teaching and studying, it is crucial for the educational sector to make careful preparations for all situations so that teachers and students in the country can welcome a new school year cheerfully, ensuring successful completion of the educational programme for the whole year.
Up to now, the preparations for the new school year 2020-2021 have been basically completed. The staff of teachers have been reviewed and arranged to ensure sufficient quantity, comprehensive structure and standard training qualifications, especially with the high quality of teachers for first-grade to implement the new general education programme. The localities and educational establishments have repaired and upgraded infrastructure of the schools as well as supplemented teaching tools, utensils and toys. Preparation of the classrooms, libraries, toilets, and clean water works has been completed early. The issue related to textbooks, which received the special attention from the students, their parents and the whole society, was thoroughly solved in the spirit of preventing students from not go to school due to lack of textbooks. The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) asked the localities to support beneficiary students and those who are living in remote and difficult areas. Based on their own budget capacity, the People’s Committees in the provinces and cities have set out specific policies to provide libraries with textbooks for poor students. All actions aim to ensure that all students will have adequate textbooks by the new 2020-2021 school year.
In the face of complicated development of COVID-19, the MoET asked educational establishments to strictly comply with the regulations on the time for students’ return to the school and the new academic year welcoming ceremony in the whole country on the morning of September 5. The opening ceremony for the new school year must take place in a cheerful atmosphere while ensuring the safety in prevention and control of the epidemic. In the localities conducting social distancing, the educational facilities will hold the new academic year opening ceremony in an online format. The activities in the beginning of the new school year should be suitable for the students' ages, conditions of the schools, the practices of the localities and epidemic prevention measures. The establishments must carefully welcome new students, disseminate the tradition and regulations of the schools among them. The teachers also have to introduce educational activities, programmes and studying methods in the schools, helping new students learn well right from the first days.
Despite careful preparation, in addition to efforts by the educational sector, the attention and sharing from the community and the whole society are very necessary to ensure a new safe and effective school year. The local authorities and agencies should make specific mechanisms to contribute to preventing and controlling the epidemic at schools, especially the disinfection of classrooms.
