Hue high school to teach girls the art of cooking

The Hai Ba Trung High School would be the first in Vietnam to teach the course in the 2021-2022 school year, the office of the central Thua Thien-Hue Province People’s Committee said Friday.

The school would hire culinary artists and experts to teach the course, the committee said, adding that among other things, female students will learn how to cook basic Hue food, handle a family meal, learn life skills and retain the beauty of Hue’s culinary arts. Hue is the seat of the Nguyen Dynasty from 1802 until the end of Vietnam's feudal time in 1945.

Phan Ngoc Tho, chairman of the province, requested the Thua Thien-Hue Department of Education and Training to make plans to support the teaching of this source with funds from its own budget or other sources.

The Hai Ba Trung High School’s example should be followed by all schools in the province later, he said.

Tho said although the course is called "women's household tasks," it will be taught to all students and not just girls as some people have "misunderstood."

Several alumni of the Dong Khanh - Hai Ba Trung school said the course was a favorite among female students in the French colonial era and a highlight school. In those days, the course taught students how to take care of children, balance the family budget, handicraft skills and cooking traditional Hue food, they added. After 1975, the course was discontinued.

The Hai Ba Trung High School, built in 1917, was formerly known as Dong Khanh. It was the only girls school in central Vietnam then.

Vietnamese women traditionally take care of household tasks. Although women have been more aware that it's also men's jobs, not many have achieved the equal share they hope for.

Vietnamese women spend an average 20.2 hours per week doing housework, in contrast to men doing it for only an average 10.7 hours. Around 20 percent of men don’t do housework at all, according to a March report by the International Labor Organization.

Uneven distribution of family responsibilities might be a reason for gender imbalance in Vietnam’s workforce, the report added.