>> Hue schools in terrible condition
As Hue\'s schools prepare to open for a new year, DTiNews\' continued investigation reveals that many are not ready.
The number of children at An Cuu Kindergarten is very low.
The second establishment of An Cuu Kindergarten on Nguyen Khoa Chiem Road, An Cuu District, Hue City, has a capacity for 70 children, but for a long time, the number has never exceeded 30 children at any given time. This has caused a considerable loss of income for the kindergarten and not enabled it to meet its own target of number of students.
The main reason is that the establishment is hidden away from the hamlet, while right behind it is a large cemetery with hundreds of old tombs. Nguyen Thi Tai, Principal of the kindergarten, said that she has informed relevant authorities about this problem but is still waiting for an answer.
The kindergraten had previously adjusted their fee to make it affordable for locals to pay with only VND 410,000 (USD 21) a year per child, but many parents are concerned that their children’s health would be affected by the cemetery air.
On the other hand, due to a lack of land, Phu Hiep Primary School has many of its classrooms situated within the area of Phu Hiep District’s communal house. Students and teachers always have to jostle against each other on the small-sized school yard when the school’s flag salutation ceremony is held each week.
Located next to Dong Ba River in a low area, whenever there is a flood, big or small, the school yard is always filled with water that sometimes rises up to one’s chest. The school year here is often commenced 1 to 2 weeks early to allow students to stay at home during the floods, often weeks, without having their school time being affected as a result.
Phu Tan Primary School is probably the school that is most in need of repair. Built in 1956 and holding the largest number of students in Phu Vang District with about 850 students per year, the school has 14 of its classrooms heavily degraded. All the tables and chairs in these classrooms are seriously rotten and about to fall apart, while countless holes have been formed on the classroom floors. Students sitting in these classrooms are also affected by the smell coming from neighbouring pig stables.
At the foot of the many walls here, crevices have cracked all the way up to the roof posing a risk of collapsing if struck by a storm. Nine out of these 14 rooms have to have canvas covering up the classrooms ceiling to prevent the sun and the rain from getting though, as the roofs have been largely destroyed. However, whenever it rains, the water still leaks through and both teachers and students have to go around quickly looking for buckets to catch the falling water.
“We have asked Thua Thien - Hue’s Department of Education and Training to repair these classrooms for fear that the monsoon season is approaching. Our school could easily get blown away by any storm,” Nguyen Dinh Luong, Principal of Phu Tan Primary School said.
Phu Cat and Phu Binh Primary Schools of Hue City find themselves in the same situation. The start of the school year also marks the beginning of flood season. Both schools are located in a low area and are susceptible to flooding every year.
At Thong Nhat Junior Secondary School, 80 teachers of the school have to share one toilet, and the room itself has been badly degraded. Ly Tu Trong Juinor Secondary School also has only one toilet for 17 classrooms and students often have to run back to classes when it rains, for the toilet is placed outside the classroom building. Kim Long 1 Primary School is currently the only primary school that lets students study for only half a day due to a lack of classrooms.
| According to Pham Van Hoa, Deputy Director of Hue City’s Department of Education and Training, an amount of VND 60 billion - 70 billion (USD 3 million - 3.6 million) is deducted from the city’s budget each year to upgrade the schools condition, however, it is still not enough. “Schools that need repairing need to report to the Division of Education and Training at the end of the school year, so that we can inspect the problems and find a solution for it in time,” Hoa said. Currently, in Thua Thien - Hue, there are still about 16 schools that need to be upgraded and 4 schools need to be relocated. However, no decision has been made about implementing these projects until the new plan for 2011 has been heard. A new school year is almost here while far too many schools are degraded not being able to meet the demand of teaching and learning of teachers and students. |
Below are pictures as captured by DTiNews of the poor state of schools in Hue before the start of the new school year.
At Phu Tan Primary School, canvas is used instead to cover the roof.
A sign out of place.
Phu Hiep Primary School has its classrooms located within the district’s communal house.
The communal house becomes the school’s storage place.
A big hole on the ceiling of one classroom.
Underneath the board.
Chairs and tables in one classroom.
Serious cracks on a wall.