school – VIETNAM STAR

One student killed, 12 injured by fallen tree in schoolyard in Ho Chi Minh City

Daisy Nguyen — Tue, 26 May 2020 13:08:35 +0000

One middle school student was killed and 12 others injured after they were hit by an uprooted tree on the premises of their school in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday morning.

The accident occurred at around 6:15 am at Bach Dang Middle School in District 3, according to Nguyen Van Phuc, the school’s principal.

The royal Poinciana tree was uprooted and fell onto 13 sixth-grade students, Phuc said.

Three ambulances were immediately dispatched to the school to take the victims to the hospital following the incident, according to eyewitnesses.

Most of the victims were admitted to Children’s Hospital 2 in District 1, while one of them was brought to An Sinh Hospital in Phu Nhuan District.

As of 8:40 am the same day, Nguyen Duy Long, director of the city’s 115 Emergency Center, confirmed that the student at An Sinh Hospital had passed away.

Three students treated at Children’s Hospital 2 remained in a serious condition, Long added.

Ho Chi Minh City vice-chairman Duong Anh Duc has ordered the municipal Department of Education and Training and relevant agencies to investigate the accident.

Officials will visit the victims and their families to provide necessary assistance.

Source: Tuoitrenews

Hanoi preschools and primary schools reopen after 3-month break

Daisy Nguyen — Mon, 11 May 2020 06:18:09 +0000

Schools in Hanoi city are requested to implement rules on Covid-19 prevention and respond promptly to any health incidents related to the pandemic.

Preschool children and elementary students in Hanoi have returned to schools after a theee-month break due to the risk of Covid-19 infection, Kinhtedothi.vn reported.

The schools have been disinfected many times and the teaching plans are adjusted to suit the pandemic evolution.

Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training Pham Xuan Tien said that his department has issued detailed guidances to educational institutions in the city about Covid-19 prevention and control.

Schools in the city are requested to implement the regulations on Covid-19 prevention and respond promptly to any health incidents related to the pandemic.

Besides, training and operation plans have been changed. Today’s first lesson is about activities to provide knowledge and anti-Covid-19 skills for all students.

All the pending teaching contents must be delivered before July 15.

Hanoi schools have discussed online with parents to agree on the scenario of taking and picking up children on weekdays, as recommended by the Ministry of Health and the municipal authorities.

Some schools have still recommended that parents should let their children wear face masks while in classes and prepare them personal amenities.

Not all students would have lunch at the same time but in shift to avoid gathering. They are asked to avoid contact with others of different classes.

On May 10 afternoon, inspection teams of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training reviewed schools in the city to support their teaching plans and taking care of students with a view to ensuring a safe return to school.

Source: Hanoitimes

Teach children with love, not harsh discipline

Daisy Nguyen — Wed, 13 Nov 2019 10:03:05 +0000

An eighth-grade student at the HCM City-based Ngô Quyền Secondary School has recently been disciplined for slandering BTS – a popular K-pop group, and its fandom on a social networking site.
The schoolboy created the page “ANTI bts in VietNam” on June 27 and posted obscene messages and photos about the band and its fans, known as the ARMY.
The page angered Vietnamese fans, and they reported his behaviour to the school.
As a result, the student was suspended from November 6-9. His moral score – a score that Vietnamese schools use to evaluate the behaviour of students – has also been marked down to the lowest possible level until the end of the term. He was also made to read a letter he wrote criticising himself in front of the whole school last Tuesday.
And that’s not the end of it. A video of the student reading the letter, which lasts nearly 2 minutes, was posted on the school’s Facebook page. The clip was then shared thousands of times including on pages with millions of followers.
It has immediately sparked a debate about discipline among parents, teachers and experts nationwide.
Some approve of the measures taken against the boy, saying he deserved it. However, many think it’s too harsh, inappropriate and counter-productive. They are afraid it could cause psychological harm to the student.
Emotional abuse
Phạm Quý Thuận, a student’s parent, said educational methods changed over time.
“But all the methods aim to make children change in a positive direction,” he said.
In this case, the school should think about the child’s psychology first. Would the punishment change his behaviour in a positive way or would he feel ashamed, scared or develop a strong sense of inferiority that might affect his studies and psychological development, Thuận said.
Nguyễn Hoàng Chương, principal of Lộc Phát High School in the Central Highlands province of Lâm Đồng, said schools often disciplined their students following Circular No 08/TT, issued by the Ministry of Education and Training in 1988, and Circular No 12/2011/TT-BGDDT, issued by the ministry in 2011. However, neither of these documents include anything about making students embarrass themselves in front of the whole school.
“This form of discipline will stigmatise the student. It is emotional abuse,” he added.
In this case, the school should have worked with the student’s parents to fix the problem. Parents had to take responsibility for children’s bad attitudes, he said.
Khuất Thu Hồng, president of the Institute for Social Development Studies, said she also felt the punishment was too harsh.
“The student abused a boy band on a social networking site, but the school shamed him before thousands of people,” she said.
From a psychological perspective, it could badly hurt the student’s self-esteem, she added.
Hồng said any student could take things too far on social networks because they had not been taught how to behave correctly online.
In a related movement, the ministry on Monday ordered HCM City’s Education and Training Department to report on the case.
Bùi Văn Linh, head of the ministry’s Political Education and Student Affairs Department, said the punishment was inappropriate.
Linh said any discipline should be based on the principle of respect and to promote positive changes among students, while avoiding hurting them.
So, what should the school do to address this mess?
First, it should revoke the disciplinary decision and remove the video from Facebook. Next it should sit down with the student’s parents to discuss how to teach him not to repeat the same mistake in the future. Last, the school also needs to teach all students how to behave appropriately on social networking sites.
Teach students with patience and love, not harsh disciplines!— VNS
BTS is a South Korean boy group, formed and managed by Big Hit Entertainment. The seven-member group officially debuted on June 13, 2013. In 2017, BTS entered the international music market, leading the Korean wave into the US and breaking many sales records. It became the first Korean group to receive a Gold Certificate from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), awarded with the single “Mic Drop”.
In 2018, BTS became the first K-pop group to speak at the United Nations on September 24, in an effort to empower young people. They are the youngest people ever to receive a Cultural Medal from the South Korean President for the group’s contributions to spreading South Korea’s culture and language.
Source: VNS

Schools shut down outdoor activities due to polluted air in Hanoi

Daisy Nguyen — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 13:37:36 +0000

Several schools in Hanoi halted all of the students’ outdoor activities and required to close the classroom windows.
Students at Le Quy Don primary school will have physical education (PE) lessons in the classroom and gymnasium instead of the schoolyard, the school’s vice-principal Ly Thi Son said. All the doors and windows will be closed and students are advised not to go out during their recess.
“These are temporary solutions but they are necessary and useful for our students because we have good facilities and infrastructure,” said Son.
“We have not seen any students whose health affected by polluted air so far,” she said, adding that outdoor activities at the school will be encouraged after the air in Hanoi gets better.
Vietnam-Australia School in Nam Tu Liem district also adopted several solutions including delaying outdoor matches, cancelling outdoor physical activities and closing all the windows.
On September 30, Lomonosov primary school made a notice asking teachers to move all PE lessons to the gymnasium. Classroom windows are now required to be closed at 7 a.m. everyday instead of 9 a.m.
To reduce students’ exposure to the air, the school board also advised parents to pick up their children earlier, right after they finish lessons at 3:40 p.m. or after-school activities at 5:30 p.m.
Principal Nguyen Thi Thu Mai said that the school has ordered air quality monitors from Pam Air to track the air quality and report to parents, teachers and students. The installation will be finished by October 5.
On Wednesday morning Hanoi took the top spot in the world for worst air quality in a ranking of more than 10,000 cities worldwide, with an AQI of 180, a level where there’s increased risk of adverse affects to the heart and lungs, especially among children, elders and people with respiratory or heart diseases.
Officials said the low quality of air in Hanoi is caused by construction, a growing number of cars and motorcycles and heavy industry, including steel works, cement factories and coal-fired plants.
On Tuesday, the Vietnamese government warned its people to limit outdoor activities because the air quality in the country has persistently been at unhealthy levels for days.
“Local people, especially children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with respiratory issues should refrain from traffic and outdoor activities,” the government said in the statement.
PM2.5 levels are forecast to stay high over the next days, particularly at night and early in the morning, it added.
Source: Vnexpress

School criticised over poor meals

Daisy Nguyen — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 10:21:56 +0000

The Department of Education and Training in HCM City is investigating into a complaint by parents at a local international school over poor meals.
Parents of students at Vietnam-Australia International School in Sala have filed complaints about low nutrition meals and poor quality food. According to a parent, her child often complained about being hungry after returning home from school. She and other parents decided to visit them at school during lunch and discovered poorly-prepared meals.
There was some rice, a bit of chicken and fish and soup and a slice of watermelon. The parents have to pay VND7.7m (USD331) for secondary students and VND6.3m for primary students’ lunches for 10 weeks. Each meal costs from VND130,000 to VND150,000.
The school’s representative said they had received the complaints and will work with the suppliers. The school promises to update the information to the parents and improve the services.
Bui Thi Diem Thu, deputy head of the Department of Education and Training, said they also received the information and would carry out an inspection at both public and private schools. She went on to say that a proper meal for children only cost over VND30,000 (USD1.29).
“We will ask the schools to let parents monitor the children’s meals. If the schools have their own kitchens or hire other suppliers, they must provide the means for the parents to monitor the situation,” Thu said.
The Ministry of Education and Training is using the menu of Ajinomono for the nutritional needs for kindergarten children. There are no regulations about nutritional needs for children at secondary and high schools.
The Vietnam-Australia International School is one of the expensive private schools in HCM City. Its annual tuition for 2019-2020 school year is VND143m (USD6,100) to VND425m per student.
Source: Dtinews

Should students use mobile phones in schools?

Vietnam Star — Sun, 19 May 2019 16:23:19 +0000

Though school regulations do not allow students to use mobile phones in classes, I’ve seen many cases, including my nephews, carrying smartphones and using them publicly in schools.
Mobile phones, especially smartphones, have become an essential part of our daily lives. I can’t imagine going one day without touching my iPhone, as I need to make calls, reply to messages, draft emails, and scroll my social feeds. Of course, I’m already an adult.
I first had my phone about 10 years ago when I was 16, and I felt okay with having it at that age. However, I believe that’s not the case these days as even my 10-year-old nephew has asked his father for a phone.
That’s why when I noticed the topic of phones in schools, I had mixed feelings as to whether mobile phones are beneficial or distracting for students.
I spoke with four people, two of them four or five years younger than me, and the others two years older, and they all agreed that mobile phones can have either positive or detrimental effects on students, depending on how adults guide them.
“I have a younger sister who is 15 years old,” Ngọc Anh, 25, said. “She was given my dad’s old mobile phone two years ago. It’s from Nokia and my sister is perfectly fine with it since she has been taught to use the phone to call my dad after school for pick up and emergency cases only.”
Meanwhile, my aunt, 48, told me that my nephew’s inability to live without his phone had become a frustration for her family.
“Huy An is now 16, and I allowed him to have a smartphone about three to four years ago. I didn’t think much as Huy An was familiar with using my iPad, and I didn’t have time to carefully take care of him so I thought a phone could make his life easier, as well as make myself feel less guilty,” my aunt said.
“Now his teachers have told me that Huy An constantly watches YouTube videos during class, so I’ve become particularly concerned,” she added.
My aunt’s case isn’t rare as many parents are encountering a similar problem.
According to educational experts, it’s difficult for anyone to not have a smartphone these days since they are essential items.
Xuân Nhã, 34, a teacher at a secondary school in HCM City, told me that she often saw her students hide their phones under their skirts, texts under desks, or use “bathroom passes” to finish posting their thoughts to social media.
“This has occurred for about four to five years. I was upset at first as phones distracted my students from listening to my lectures, but I came to realise that there’s nothing I can do to stop students from carrying their phones to school,” she said
“That’s when I started to set some class rules and be strict with my punishment. I informed parents at a teacher-parent meet-and-greet session at the beginning of the academic year about how I would keep a student’s phone if I spotted one using his or her phone during my lecture,” she said.
“Of course, students’ phones are not mine to keep forever, so I will return them at the end of the academic year,” she added.
Nhã said that most students’ parents had been supportive and that surprisingly her new students had made life much easier for her.
“My ninth grade students recently taught me to use kahoot.it, a free game-based learning platform that makes it fun to learn a subject. Instead of handling out 15-minute quizzes like every teacher has done, my students told me to create multiple-choice quizzes on kahoot.it and let students join the game using their smartphones!” she said.
“It’s interactive and so much fun! Smartphones can be excellent learning devices.” Nhã said, adding that she’d found using phones in class to be positive as well.
Being tech-savvy myself, I still have doubts about letting students or even my future children carrying phones to school.
However, thinking back about how I got through that “chaotic period” when first having a smartphone, I have experiences that I would like to share to ones in need.
When I first got an iPhone, which was around the 12th grade, I was quite aware of the negative impact a smartphone could have, partly because I wrote so many assignments on the topic and also because my mother was straightforward with how she would like me to use my phone.
With that said, parents’ support and guidance plays an important role in how to make mobile phones, especially smartphones, useful devices for their kids.
From my research, effective communication between parents and their children is not only essential to their relationships but also for the children’s well-being.
If parents communicate openly and effectively and both sides contribute to the conversation, chances are that their children will feel respected and easily understand the matter.
My aunt agreed with me, adding that, “Since children these days are very smart, we shouldn’t try to ban them from using the phones, but should introduce smartphones into their lives in a ‘smart’ way.”
“I’ve done it with Huy Mạnh, Huy An’s younger brother, and so far, he’s doing great!” my aunt said.
In addition to parents’ support, Hoài Thương, 23, said that giving student digital breaks between lessons could be a great idea for schools to use to limit the potential distraction in class.
“I think keeping a close eye on how mobile phones are being used in schools has sort of become teachers’ new duty in the modern era,” Thương added.
The use of mobile phones these days can bring about both negativity and positivity for students. It’s a balancing act between teachers and parents to educate them on how to use mobile phones effectively.
Banning mobile phones is not the ultimate solution.
Source: VNS

Non-profit schools on the rise

Daisy Nguyen — Tue, 20 Nov 2018 12:00:50 +0000

Despite early concerns about its feasibility, non-profit education is gaining ground in Vietnam with both foreign and domestic investors flocking to the burgeoning sector.
It is evident that non-profit education went through a rough start in Vietnam as non-profit institutions were widely misunderstood by the public. The term, admittedly, remains fairly unheard of until this day, even as non-profit schools have only been in Vietnam for less than 20 years and the majority of educational institutions are wholly subsidised by the state. In the late 20th century, many parents and regulators regarded non-profit education in Vietnam as “impossible and unfathomable.”
Most of the confusion stems from the concept itself – many Vietnamese mistakenly thought that non-profit schools were not supposed to make any money at all, or that they operate as charity organisations. The examples below will show that this is far from the truth.
In developed countries such as the US, the UK, Germany or South Korea and Japan, non-profit education has always been a familiar concept thanks to the great number of high-quality institutions that are strictly non-profit. For example, prestigious universities such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford (US), Keio (Japan), and Yonsei (Korea) or medical schools Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, and John Hopkins Medicine (US) are all non-profit organisations.
While for-profit schools act like corporations and prioritise profit, non-profit universities place the emphasis on the providing the best study environment for students. All profit is re-invested in the schools’ facilities and curricula instead of being paid out in dividends to shareholders. Thanks to the constant investments, the quality of education and research at these non-profit schools improves year after year, helping them attract even bigger endowments from individuals and organisations.
Harvard University, for example, earned a profit of $998 million in the 2016 financial year. Besides tuition fees, the school made money from its subsidiaries Harvard Management Company and Harvard Business Publishing. The latter focuses on selling case studies for schools, businesses or other organisations. Thanks to its business activities, the total assets under management by Harvard University are worth $44.6 billion (June 30, 2016).
Other well-known schools such as Yale or Stanford also frequently receive huge endowments from various individuals or organisations. The schools’ board uses these funds to provide financial aid for students and increase the number of scholarships. These universities also have a sustainable business strategy to make sure that their quality of education and research is not affected by monetary losses.
THE WAVE OF NON-PROFIT INVESTMENT
Despite misconceptions, non-profit investors still took the lead in the Vietnamese education sector, striving to meet the higher training requirements of employers, parents, and students. As the young generation of Vietnamese go for tertiary education and their parents enjoy higher disposable income, opportunities are growing for non-profit educators. Between 2010 and 2013 alone, the number of universities and colleges in Vietnam grew by 6.5 per cent per year, while the number of students grew by 6.1 per cent.
The pioneers in Vietnam’s non-profit education were international schools and private institutions run by local groups, such as FPT Corporation. Many non-profit schools have earned strong reputation thanks to their international curriculum and the high employability of graduates. For example, the United Nations International School is widely known as the number-one school system in Hanoi, providing world-class education for well-to-do families and expatriates.
RMIT University Vietnam, the first international tertiary institution in Vietnam, also made a name for itself after more than 15 years of operation in the country. The average tuition fee for an undergraduate programme at RMIT Vietnam is between VND500 million and VND700 million ($21,700 and $30,400). RMIT’s annual profit margin is 5.5 per cent.
NEW PLAYERS COME TO THE PICTURE
In recent years, the non-profit education sector in Vietnam has welcomed a new competitor in Vinschool. Owned by the Vingroup conglomerate, Vinschool aspires to represent Vietnamese non-profit educators against a throng of international rivals. According to Le Khac Hiep, deputy chairman of Vingroup, right from the start, Vinschool has been designed as a programme for Vietnam’s social and educational development.
As a result, 100 per cent of the profits made by Vinschool are re-invested, which is double the threshold required by Vietnamese laws. In 2015, Vinschool made VND514 billion ($22.35 million) of revenue, taking up 1.5 per cent of Vingroup’s total revenue. This initial success has motivated the school to switch its entire system to non-profit operations.
“Now Vietnam has world-class non-profit schools, and we believe that this is one way to improve its standing in the world,” said Hiep. Since September 2016, Vinschool’s network of 10 campuses and 13,000 students has operated in the non-profit direction.
The non-profit business model is doing wonders for Vinschool, and Vingroup broke ground on its first tertiary institution called VinUni in Hanoi last week. The new campus spans an area of 23 hectares, including a ten-storey main building, dormitories, a sports hall, and other areas.
The strategic partners of VinUni are Cornell University and University of Pennsylvania from the US. The university is expected to start enrolment in 2020. Similar to other schools in the Vinschool system, VinUni will be a non-profit institution reaching international education standards.
Hiep said that the conglomerate hopes that Vinschool and VinUni students will gain access to international curricula taught by professors and industry experts from around the world. The ultimate goal is to nurture the next generation of skilled employees for the Vietnamese economy.
“Vingroup’s road to non-profit education is not a lonely one due to the large number of existing schools in Vietnam, and we see ourselves as latecomers to this exciting scene. To bring international education to future Vietnamese generations, we will strive to create breakthroughs and offer students the most advanced technologies one can provide in education,” said Hiep.
Phuong Oanh report on VIR