Before a new school year starts, teachers in mountainous areas in Khanh Vinh District often have to pay home visits to convince parents to take their children to school and help with their school application...
Before a new school year starts, teachers in mountainous areas in Khanh Vinh District often have to pay home visits to convince parents to take their children to school and help with their school application.
To prepare for the 2018-2019 school year, Teacher Nguyen Thi Thanh Hien and her colleagues at Hoa Mi Nursery School have to pay home visits to persuade parents to let their children to go to school by impressing the importance of going to school and informing about beneficial policies for ethnic minority students. Cao Thi Cuc, Suoi Lach Village, has agreed with her son named Cao Minh Tri’s going to school and asked for the help with all work related to the school application. “My home is far but I do not have a motorbike to travel to do with all the registration,” she explained.
Teacher Nguyen Thi Thanh Hien says “Sometimes, I have to pay a home visit three times but it does not work. I have to ask for the support of the local authority. Some kids’ birth still has not been recorded yet or it has some inexact information. Teachers have to help with documents necessary for school enrollment.
Reportedly, this academic year, Hoa Mi Nursery School has a plan to enroll 210 kids, including 99 newcomers. The enrollment plan has been developed early, based on the survey of young kids in villages, with the home visits and support with school enrolment application, etc.
 Teacher Nguyen Thi Thanh Hien helps with Cao Minh Tri’s school application.
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“Enrolment is only the first stage. During the school time, we have to regularly motivate kids’ learning to prevent school drop-outs. In some cases, teachers also help with taking their students to school. We have to make every effort to promote children’s access to education,” says teacher Cao Thi Nu.
In Khanh Phu Commune, the school enrolment this year seems to be less difficult than in previous years, according to nursery and primary school teachers. Most of local residents are ethnic minority people in financial need. They often take their kids with them to farms on mountains, so it is quite difficult to meet them at home. Therefore, this school year, Khanh Phu Commune leaders and organizations have closely cooperated with the school board to provide support with the school enrolment documents, especially family registration books and certificates of birth. Besides, the propaganda on preferential polices for ethnic minority students has been focused. The commune People’s Committee has mobilized locals to take children to school and learn via commune radio broadcasts, says Truong Thi Kim Thoa, Vice-Chairperson of Khanh Phu Commune People’s Committee.
The school enrollment process in mountainous areas mostly inhabited by many ethnic minorities is quite different. Most of the recruitment procedures are done by teachers because parents are so busy working far away on mountainous fields or farms for many days. When the school year opens, teachers also get engaged in motivating students to learn at school to prevent drop-outs. This year, Khanh Vinh District sets a target of 100% of the 5-year-olds mobilized to attend kindergarten, 100% of 6-year-olds to the first grade and 100% qualify for elementary education completion to enter the sixth grade, reports Bui Huu Hoa, Head of Khanh Vinh District Division of Education & Training.
Bich La
Translated by N.T
