One month after Typhoon Damrey made landfall in Khanh Hoa, the repair of hundreds of damaged schools is still underway. However, considerable funding is needed to repair serious typhoon destruction at many schools...
One month after Typhoon Damrey made landfall in Khanh Hoa, the repair of hundreds of damaged schools is still underway. However, considerable funding is needed to repair serious typhoon destruction at many schools.
The repair and reconstruction of roofs, walls and rooms of Son Loc School location of Ninh An Nursery School, Ninh Hoa Town, have neared completion. Principal Huynh Thi Ngoc Hoa says the roof repair of 8 out of 9 school locations have been completed and the school reopened 1 week after the typhoon. However, Son Loc School location was seriously damaged and cannot be repaired for lack of funding. More than 100 kids are temporarily studying in rooms at Pham Ngu Lao Junior High School. Thanks to a business’ financial support, Son Loc School location is being repaired and expected to welcome kids back on December 11.
To Van On High School, Van Ninh District is one of the hardest-hit schools. Principal Nguyen Quang Vinh says temporary repair on roofs has been made to serve teaching and learning after the typhoon. Lights, fans, etc in 13 rooms, 6 administrative rooms, 40 computers in 4 practice rooms and many other facilities have not been repaired. At present, students have to study without lights, fans, and have insufficient learning and practice facilities. After 1 month of extra lessons given to make up missed classes due to the typhoon, the school has caught up with the current required curricula. However, more funding is required to repair heavy damages.
Suoi Tien Primary School, Dien Khanh District has just temporarily repaired roofs and electrical and lighting systems in some classrooms. Some desks with minor damage are still used to assure enough seats for pupils. A bank has just donated 4,000 notebooks to over 400 children, including 33 ethnic minority kids at Lo Gia School location. The damaged roofs and electrical system in the playground and wall fences have not been repaired for lack of funding. The student parking-lot has not been completely fixed. Extra lessons are being given and expected to last until the end of this semester to catch up with the current required curricula, says Vice-Principal Nguyen Thi Phuong Tam.
Roof repair has been made at Hoa Phuong 1 Nursery School locations in Y Bao and Ca Theu villages to continue providing education to 100 kids after the natural disaster. Vice-Principal Nguyen Thi Nho says the electrical and water supply systems have been assured, but teaching materials and toys are still insufficient.
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Funds for recurrent expenditures can be used to temporarily repair damages to assure the teaching and learning. Schools in Khanh Hoa have gradually returned to normal after the typhoon and most of them continue full-day classes with day-boarding service. However, to deal with serious damages estimated at VND500 million to some billion dongs, Khanh Hoa Education & Training Department has cooperated with local authorities to assess damages and severity, and hire consultancy units to make repair cost estimates according to regulations on using repair funding. Funding support is required to help schools to soon recover from the typhoon, according to Hoang Thi Ly, Deputy Director of Khanh Hoa Education & Training Department.
On December 5, Khanh Hoa Education & Training Department reported Khanh Hoa People’s Committee about the demand for the school repair funding expected at more than VND124 billion, including VND11.45 billion to units under the Education & Training Department and over VND112.6 billion to units under Education & Training Division. Specifically, VND35.4 billion is needed to repair schools in Ninh Hoa, VND24.7 billion in Van Ninh, nearly VND21.9 billion in Dien Khanh, VND13 billion in Khanh Vinh, VND13 billion in Nha Trang City, nearly VND3.7 billion in Cam Lam, VND900 million in Cam Ranh and VND100 million in Khanh Son.
"It may take some months to repair school infrastructures and teaching facilities but it will surely take much longer to restore the trees in the campus until they bring shade and beauty back to the school," says Le Thanh Vu, Vice-Principal of Khanh Hiep Primary School, Khanh Vinh District.
H.Ngan
Translated by N.T
