Millions of students attend virtual opening ceremonies of new school year

A special online opening ceremony of the 2021-2022 new school year for students in Hanoi was held in Trung Vuong Secondary School in Hoan Kiem district on September 5 morning, and broadcast live on the Hanoi Radio and Television.

After the flag-raising ceremony, Director of the municipal Department of Education and Training Tran The Cuong read a letter sent by President Nguyen Xuan Phuc to the education and training sector on the occasion of the 2021-2022 school year.

Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Chu Ngoc Anh beat a drum to kick off the new school year. He said the education and training sector of the capital city had striven to overcome difficulties to implement the dual goals of pandemic prevention and control and fulfilling the academic yearly target with the spirit of “temporarily stopping going to school without stopping studying.”

Anh said the 2021-2022 academic year came amid unpredictable risks from the pandemic and the city would face more difficulties in the future, urging the whole city to unite and join efforts to overcome challenges.

Representing more than 2.1 million students of Hanoi attending the online opening ceremony, Nguyen My Hanh, a ninth grader of the Trung Vuong Secondary School expressed her joy and deep gratitude to the municipal authorities and relevant agencies for organising the meaningful opening ceremony.

Every student should consider online learning as an opportunity to experience and develop information technology skills, improve self-study capacity, practice self-discipline, perseverance and creativity, she said.

On the occasion, local students who won medals at International Olympiads in 2021, and teachers with outstanding achievements in training these students were presented with certificates of merit by the Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee.

Millions of students across the country also attended an online opening ceremony for the new academic year on the same day, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while million of others went to ceremonies in person.

The 2021-2022 school year takes place as the COVID-19 outbreak is ravaging a large number of cities and provinces, dealing a heavy blow to business and social affairs, including education. Many localities have closed schools due to rising COVID-19 cases.

Fifty localities nationwide decided to hold the opening ceremony of the new school year either physically or online for nearly 20 million students, while the remaining localities have cancelled or delayed the opening date, giving priority to pandemic prevention and ensuring student safety.

Over 20 other provinces and cities, mainly in the central and southern regions, also kicked off the new school year opening ceremonies online or via television. Due to the worsening outbreak triggered by Delta variant of the coronavirus, many schools are being used as quarantine facilities.

After the ceremony, most students had to study online. In Ho Chi Minh City, the current biggest hotspot of COVID-19 in Vietnam, a simple ceremony was held at Le Hong Phong School for the Gifted with participation of 30 people and broadcast live.