HCMC mulls reopening schools in December

By Manh Tung   November 9, 2021 | 03:30 am PT
HCMC mulls reopening schools in December
A teacher during his English class at Thanh An Secondary-High School, Can Gio District, HCMC, October 20, 2021. Photo by Vnexpress/Manh Tung
Districts with low and medium pandemic risks may see students return to class from Dec. 10, according to a plan submitted to city's legislators.

Before allowing students return to school, teachers and staff would receive safety training and a parent meeting held.

Schools must meet Covid-19 safety standards, and prepare themselves to switch to online learning in case the pandemic turns complicated, according to a plan by the HCMC Department of Education and Training.

Districts with high levels of coronavirus risk would combine in-person and online classes and students of 1st, 2nd, 6th, 9th and 12th grade prioritized for in-person sessions.

In areas with very high coronavirus risks, the department said online classes and televised lessons must continue.

An area's Covid risk level is determined by its vaccination rate and the number of local infections per population.

For now, of all 22 localities in Ho Chi Minh City, 19 districts and Thu Duc City are designated to have low and medium risks while Nha Be and Can Gio are tagged as high risk.

Le Hoai Nam, deputy director of the education department, said the city administration would make the final call on having students return to class and that the department is only charged with drawing up a plan so schools could be prepared should conditions allow.

HCMC has around 1.7 million students in over 2,400 schools. Except for Thanh An Primary and Secondary-High schools on Thanh An Island of Can Gio District, others are currently operating online.

Authorities announced Monday that a sixth-grader of the Thanh An school had been confirmed infected with Covid-19 via testing on Nov. 1, when the school had reopened for the third week.

Since then, all his classmates have had to stay home and switch to online learning.

 
 
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