Bắc giang
Typhoon-hit localities in Bac Giang urgently overcome damage to welcome students back to school
BAC GIANG- These days, many areas in Son Dong and Luc Ngan districts in northern province have been badly affected by typhoon Yagi, the third to hit Vietnam this year, causing severe flood and damage. The new school year has recently begun when a number of students have not got acquaintance to the teachers and friends but they have to temporarily stay at home because their schools and classrooms were destroyed by the storm.
The schools in a mess after the storm
After nearly 2 days, Yen Dinh primary school in Son Dong district was heavily flooded. The floodwater drained until the morning of September 9 leaving a thick layer of mud on the schoolyard and classrooms.
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Soldiers of Division 325 support Tran Hung Dao Secondary School in Chu town of Luc Ngan district to clean up the school yard. |
The school was in a mess after the flood. Although their houses are also messy, the teachers have to put it aside to go to school quickly addressing the aftermath to welcome students back to school.
“The school has 20 classrooms with 457 students studying in the main headquarter and 2 subsidiary locations. All of the school headquarters were flooded causing severe damage to the facilities. We are very worried about infectious diseases after the flood, thus the school has collaborated with the medical station to sterilize the classrooms and functional rooms to keep safety for the teachers and students to go back to school”, said Nguyen Thi Luyen, the school Principal.
The people’s committee of Yen Dinh commune also sent the youth union to help and students’ parents joint hands to clean up the school.
Due to the sloped terrain, floods from Lang Son quickly hit Son Dong district causing flooding in 4 schools including Cam Dan primary and secondary school, subsidiary headquarter of Tuan Dao pre-school and Yen Dinh primary school.
As these schools are located on the hills, they have been drained. As of September 9, no schools in Son Dong district were flooded
There is the biggest worry about infectious diseases especially pinkeye pain and acute diarrhea, thus the district Education and Training Division has joined hands with the district medical center to sterilize and urge the schools to use filtered water instead of well water to ensure sanitation.
The schools should try to repair broken chairs, tables and teaching equipment and use handmade tools to meet the teaching and learning demands in current context.
When the flood rose quickly, many schools in Luc Ngan district has been seriously affected. Sharing difficulties with the schools, the military division 325 sent 30 soldiers to help to clean up the schools.
Highly concentrate on addressing the aftermaths
Some schools in Son Dong and Luc Ngan districts were not flooded but they were also destroyed by typhoon Yagi. According to the provincial Department of Education and Training, 55 schools in the districts of Son Dong, Luc Ngan and Luc Nam have been severely affected by the storm as of September 9.
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Teachers of An Chau town secondary school in Son Dong district clean up the school after the storm to welcome students back to school. |
Especially, 26 educational facilities in the entire province were flooded, 39 schools were roofed off damaging nearly 6,000 square metre of roof, over 80 metre of fence, 16 school gates, 7 classrooms, 650 fallen trees and a large number of teaching equipment, an estimated damage of over 11 billion VND (443,441 USD).
Previously, furniture and equipment in flooded schools had been moved upstairs for preservation thanks to close watch on flood developments. However, many schools suffered from serious damage due to too heavy storm and rapid rise of floodwater.
Although water has gone down when no educational facilities in the province are flooded but it continues raining heavily in Son Dong, Luc Ngan and Luc Nam districts facing high risk of great flood. Students in some villages in Luc Ngan, Luc Nam and Son Dong districts are still isolated who cannot go to school.
“The Department of Education and Training has directed the schools not to be subjective nor neglect but they should maintain the on-duty forces to fight against the natural disaster, highly concentrate on addressing the aftermaths, protecting school safety and make the greatest efforts to welcome students back to school as soon as possible. The Department aslo requested people’s committee of the districts, town and city to direct the Education and Training Divisions, pre-schools, primary schools and secondary schools to allow students go back to school if the safety is guaranteed. If any school does not meet the safety conditions, the school should allow students stay at home to remedy the damage and arrange suitable time for students to make up the lessons”, according to Director of the Department of Education and Training Ta Viet Hung.
Super Typhoon Yagi has passed, but its effects continue to severely impact northern regions of Vietnam. The country is intensifying efforts to recover from the damage.
After chairing a hybrid conference in Hanoi on September 8 morning to direct efforts to overcome the aftermath of typhoon Yagi, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited the northeastern province of Quang Ninh in the afternoon to inspect the damage and oversee relief operations.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and a working delegation on September 8 afternoon visited Hai Phong to assess the situation and recovery efforts after typhoon Yagi devastated the port city.
Heavy rains and high landslide risks have struck 17 northern provinces in Vietnam, including Quang Ninh that is home to UNESCO heritage site Ha Long Bay, following the devastating impact of typhoon Yagi.
Typhoon Yagi has left nine people dead and 187 others injured in several northern provinces, according to initial statistics reported as of September 8 morning.
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