Headmaster suspended for refusing to turn school into quarantine camp

Tran Sung, headmaster of the Vinh Thuan Town Primary and Secondary School, will be suspended for 15 days for not abiding by directions from the Vinh Thuan District Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control to turn his school into a temporary location to receive and quarantine those returning from other areas out of Covid-19 fears.

Truong Quoc Khoi, chairman of Vinh Thuan People's Committee, confirmed about the suspension.

"Sung received the decision and did not resist. Currently the school is being used as a site for quick-testing and re-routing people who returned from other places," he said, adding the number of people who returned exceeded the expectations of district authorities, prompting the use of public institutions for coronavirus control measures.

"The town only has two schools that could be used, one of them being the Vinh Thuan Town Primary and Secondary School as it's located near a major road, enabling vehicles to pass through easily. These two schools have now been overloaded," Khoi said.

A representative of Vinh Thuan People's Committee said authorities had tried to reason with headmaster Sung, but he refused since the school was about to resume activities. The representative said Sung's suspension was made out of safety concerns for hundreds of people who spontaneously returned to their hometown.

In the past, the Vinh Thuan Town primary and secondary school had also been used as a quarantine camp. As local authorities prepared for the new school year, the school had been preparing to receive incoming students.

Late last month, Kien Giang authorities said students would return to school starting Oct. 18.

The province has received over 20,000 people returning home from Covid hotspots the past days. Most of them had come to HCMC and neighboring industrial provinces to work, but they have been jobless and out of money after months of social distancing, and decided to leave the moment these localities lifted lockdown.

Kien Giang has recorded 5,804 local Covid-19 cases since late June.