VietNamNet Bridge - Parents and educators cannot agree about whether to keep students at home on cold days.

Primary and secondary school students don't go to school on cold days

Nursery, primary and secondary schools in northern provinces closed in the last few days because the temperature fell to below 10oC. 

Some urban parents who have small children could not find any babysitters to take care of the children while they were away at the office. 

Meanwhile, others criticized educators, saying they would spoil students by allowing them to stay away from school on cold days.

“Kids don’t have to go to school on cold days, but parents still have to go to office as usual. Who will take care of the kids then?” Hai Yen, a mother in Hanoi, said.

Yen finally decided to bring her 4-year hold son with herbto the office. “It is funny. Instead of going to school where my son can is taken care of teachers, he has to go to the office where he sits idle and playsvwith his toys all day,” she said, adding that in this case, children could not avoid the cold weather as expected by educators.

Some urban parents who have small children could not find any babysitters to take care of the children while they were away at the office.

Bac Nguyen, a parent in Cau Giay district, said he could not understand why small children were prevented from going to school on cold days.

“The classrooms at nursery schools nowadays are equipped very well with hot water and air conditioners. I believe that children would feel better at school than at home,” he said.

“As the teachers refused to receive my child last Monday, I had to call my mother who lives in Bac Giang province and ask her to come to take care of my child,” he complained.

Hoang Ky Han, an office worker, believes that asking students not to go to school is ‘anti-pedagogical’.

“Why do Japanese students go to school when it is under 2oC, while Vietnamese don’t?” she asked. 

Han did not have to look for a babysitter to take care of the children, because the children can take care of themselves. 

However, she still doesn’t agree with the Hanoi Education Department’s decision that children should stay away from school on cold days.

“Children need to understand that everyone has to work, even on cold days, and people have to overcome difficulties to fulfill their work,” she said.

She commented on Facebook that she is afraid children would be spoiled if they can be absent from schools when the conditions are not favorable.

Deputy director of the Hanoi Education Department Nguyen Hiep Thong still believes that leaving children at home on cold days was the right decision. 

“Protecting children’s health should be the top priority,” he said.

Dang Duy