Parents do not want to send their 1st graders to school: HCMC poll

By Manh Tung December 5, 2021 | 08:45 pm PT

First graders attend an in-person class at Thanh An Primary School in HCMC's outlying district of Can Gio, October 20, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Seventy percent of people in HCMC with children in first grade do not want to send their kids to school amid the Covid-19 threat.

In a survey of 121,700 parents by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education last week, 85,400 said they preferred not to have their children attend classes from Dec. 13 as planned by authorities.

The poll was done through 565 primary schools.

At some of the schools not even one parent wanted to let their child go to school.

Most cited the fact that their children have yet to be vaccinated against Covid, which continues to plague the city.

Authorities started to immunize people aged 12-18 last month and have yet to announce the schedule for vaccinating younger children.

On Nov. 1 the city administration announced plans to reopen schools for first, ninth and 12th graders on Dec. 13 and kindergartens on December 20 on a two-week trial basis.

A poll by VnExpress found 81 percent of parents of first graders saying they would not let their children return to school. Some 7,500 people took part in it.

In Can Gio District, however, the Thanh An kindergarten, primary, secondary, and high schools will resume classes for all grades on December 13.

In October it became the first locality in the city to reopen schools.

Students have not attended school for well over a year.