Central Vietnamese province schools struggle in flooding's aftermath

While many schools in the province remain inundated, teachers and other staff have been dealing with the enforced absence by preparing for their students to be ready as soon as water subsides.

“We have been cleaning up the place since the floodwater began to recede, but nothing seems to be in order. Many books and tables have been damaged,” said Nguyen Thi Bich Hai, principal of an elementary school in Cat Trinh Commune, Phu My District.

A teacher selects the books that were not damaged by flood at an elementary school in the south-central province of Binh Dinh.

Hai and seven other teachers have given their all in an effort to deal with the damage, hoping that their students will be able to return soon with final-term exams just around the corner.

The area flooded so quickly that books and other property were unable to be salvaged.

The teachers have been manually drying some books with hairdryers while many others are beyond repair.

“Our students were forced to stay home for about 10 days, which has a negative impact on their progress,” Do Minh Chau, headmaster of a high school in Tuy Phuoc District, said as he mopped up classrooms.

“I don’t know how they will perform during the coming final term test, scheduled for later this month,” Chau continued.

According to Dao Duc Tuan, director of the Binh Dinh Department of Education and Training, over 50,000 students lost their textbooks to the flood.

Thousands of tables and chairs and over 2,000 computer sets, and other assets, were destroyed by the disaster, with value estimated to be around VND31 billion (US$1.36 million), Tuan added.

Many schools were not able to reopen by December 19 due to the inundation, another official continued.

Additional lessons have been requested to keep local students from falling behind, he said, adding that the final term test has also been postponed by one week.

A teacher retrieves a set of stools washed away by floodwater.

Three teachers dry documents with hairdryers.

Tables and chairs affected by the flood.

A local school gate knocked over by floodwater.

Students placing books on tables to dry them.

Teachers and students wash the stools stained by mud.

Local youths help clean the yard of a kindergarten.