Da Nang to reopen all schools this month

The municipal administration announced Thursday that sixth graders will resume in-person classes next Monday while elementary schools will start receiving students from Feb. 21 onwards.

However, no schools can accommodate students after their morning classes, and the classes must be reorganized to ensure social distancing among students, as directed by municipal chairman Le Trung Chinh.

Da Nang allowed seventh graders in areas with low and medium Covid-19 risks to get back to school starting Feb. 7.

Students from eighth to 12th grades had already returned to schools late last year.

So far, any class where a Covid-19 infection is detected has switched to online teaching and learning.

Under the impacts of the fourth Covid-19 outbreak in the country, students in Da Nang have stayed at home and studied online for six months now.

Most parents have agreed with the move to restart in-person classes.

Anh Ngoc, 40, mother of a third-grader in Hai Chau District, said children should get back to school as soon as possible because they need to learn other skills rather than just academic knowledge, especially the skill to interact and coordinate with others.

“For that particular skill, students must interact directly with their teachers and classmates,” she said.

Ngoc said she hoped parents will be cooperative and truthful in having their children say home and study online in case they contracted Covid-19 or came into direct contact with a patient.

Having two children in the third and sixth grades, Tran Khanh, 41, a Thanh Khe District resident, said “it’s high time to let them back to school. In the worst case scenario, they would get infected and if that happens, we’ll have them treated.”

The kids have lost “too many soft skills” after a long period of time studying online, he said.

Thanh, father of a first grader in Hai Chau District, said “the risk remains the same whether the kids go to school or stay at home because almost all socio-economic activities have resumed and infections have been spreading in the community.”

For now, parents and other family members of the children have returned to work and are engaging in other activities and it is very hard for them to avoid spreading the virus to the children, he said.

Meanwhile, if the kids are allowed to get back to their classes along with measures taken to prevent Covid-19 infections, it would be a win-win situation for both parents and the children, he said.

Da Nang with a population of 1.2 million has already reopened restaurants and coffee shops since last October while spa, massage, and karaoke parlors have been allowed to resume operation since Feb. 8.