1.5 mln students lack online study resources amid Covid

Nguyen Kim Son, Minister of Education and Training, on Sunday said around 7.35 million students are studying online in 26 localities imposing social distancing orders. About 20 percent lack the necessary equipment to do so, while lessons provided through televisions also met with challenges regarding equipment and signals, he said.

Such figures have yet to account for localities where in-person classes are available, but may switch to online equivalents should the pandemic evolve, he said, highlighting the dangers of inequality in education.

"Inequality in education may spiral into a bigger issue, no longer contained within the fields of education and training alone," Son said.

A program to call on citizens and businesses to support students, especially those in coronavirus-hit areas and those who lack the resources to study online, has been launched in a Sunday ceremony by the education ministry and the Ministry of Information and Communication. The program is expected to minimize the negative impacts of the pandemic on the education field and alleviate challenges for students to learn, said Son.

At the ceremony, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said reopening schools is of high interest, but student stafety must be the priority.

Nguyen Manh Hung, the information minister, said the ministry has instructed Internet service providers to provide access in socially distancing areas for students to study online within this month. For this year, service providers would also provide free Internet for students studying online under the support program.

At the ceremony, over a million computers were supplied to the program.

As the Covid-19 pandemic rages on, numerous localities have imposed social distancing orders, forcing schools to close in-person classes. When the new school year began earlier this month, millions of students had to resort to either online or televised lessons.