Together with nearly 23 million students nationwide, 2.1 million students of the capital city of Hanoi celebrated the official start of the 2020-2021 school-year on September 5 morning. Opening ceremonies for the new school year 2020-2021 were held in many different forms in various locales due to the influence of COVID-19. There are virtual events in some localities hit by the pandemic, while in other places, this year's new academic year opening ceremonies are held briefly by local schools after they have fully prepared all safety measures, such as measuring body temperature, washing hands and wearing masks, in order to welcome students to schools. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
In photo: a new school year ceremony at Marie Curie school in Hanoi. All students attending the new school year ceremony must seriously take measures to prevent COVID-19 epidemic. Under the theme of ‘a school year of epidemic prevention and combat, protecting health of community’, Marie Curie school combines both livestream and offline new school year ceremony in only 30 minutes. Due to the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, most schools in Hanoi hold a solemn but short ceremony with the direct attendance of only a limited number of students in line with epidemic prevention measures. Other students follow the ceremony in their classrooms. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
Under the theme of ‘a school year of epidemic prevention and combat, protecting health of community’, Marie Curie school combines both livestream and offline new school year ceremony in only 30 minutes from 8:00 to 8:30 on the morning of September 5. Hanoi has nearly 2,800 schools and more than 2.1 million pupils. Due to COVID-19, many schools in the city choose to carry out online new school year ceremony. Others held a solemn but short ceremony with the direct attendance of only a limited number of students in line with epidemic prevention measures. Other students followed the ceremony in their classrooms. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +)
The city holds new school year ceremony on September 5. Most schools hold a solemn but short ceremony with the direct attendance of only a limited number of students in line with epidemic prevention measures. Other students follow the ceremony in their classrooms. Besides disinfecting facilities, schools prepared devices to check body temperature of its students. All students must wash their hands before entering classrooms. Table surfaces and door handles are cleaned regularly. Students attending the ceremony have to wear masks, wash their hands, and fill out health declarations. If any student has symptoms such as cough and fever, their health will be checked. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
Prior to the new school year ceremony, all schools in Cau Giay district spray disinfectant to ensure hygiene and safety for pupils and teachers. The city holds new school year ceremony on September 5. Previously, more than 50 provinces and cities nationwide have announced schedules for the new school year and prepared scenarios to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, a full opening ceremony in which everyone attends would be impractical. Instead, an alternative plan calls for 10 to 20 students to act as representatives for each classroom. But all first, sixth and 10th graders would attend the ceremony under this scenario. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
Teachers and students of Marie Curie school attend the new school year ceremony in their classrooms. For primary grades and kindergartens, teachers and pupils attend online ceremony at home via Youtube the schools’ fanpage to ensure health and safety. According to guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) on August 25, the new school year ceremony should be held in an appropriate manner to both ensure safety and create a joyous atmosphere for students. The ceremonies in areas affected by the coronavirus, such as the central city of Da Nang, will be strictly virtual. In Hanoi, the municipal education department required that the new school year ceremony should not last more than 45 minutes. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
According to guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) on August 25, the new school year ceremony should be held in an appropriate manner to both ensure safety and create a joyous atmosphere for students. The ceremonies in areas affected by the coronavirus, such as the central city of Da Nang, will be strictly virtual. In Hanoi, the municipal education department required that the new school year ceremony should not last more than 45 minutes and customary practices such as student welcoming parades and balloon releasing should be cancelled. The education ministry also requested that schools tailor their new school year activities to student ages, school facilities and local conditions, and strictly comply with disease prevention guidelines. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
The 2020 new school year is set to commence on September 5 across Vietnam, with virtual ceremonies to be conducted in the regions where social distancing measures to contain the coronavirus remain in place. In Hanoi, the municipal education department required that the new school year ceremony should not last more than 45 minutes and customary practices such as student welcoming parades and balloon releasing should be cancelled. Teachers and students of Marie Curie school attend the new school year ceremony in their classrooms. For primary grades and kindergartens, teachers and pupils attend online ceremony at home via Youtube the schools’ fanpage to ensure health and safety. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
Attending the ceremony at school are representatives from pupils, teachers of all grades. Previously, more than 50 provinces and cities nationwide have announced schedules for the new school year and prepared scenarios to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) on August 25, the new school year ceremony should be held in an appropriate manner to both ensure safety and create a joyous atmosphere for students. The education ministry also requested that schools tailor their new school year activities to student ages, school facilities and local conditions, and strictly comply with disease prevention guidelines. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
Teachers and students of Marie Curie school attend the new school year ceremony in their classrooms. For primary grades and kindergartens, teachers and pupils attend online ceremony at home via Youtube the schools’ fanpage to ensure health and safety. It’s also a special new school year ceremony as the school combines both online and offline forms. Headmaster of Hanoi Marie Curie school, Nguyen Xuan Khang says the most important thing is ensuring safety for both the teachers and pupils. Pupils are required to wear facemasks, have body temperature checked and wash their hands with sanitiser to attend the ceremony at school. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
Headmaster of Hanoi Marie Curie school, Nguyen Xuan Khang says the most important thing is ensuring safety for both the teachers and pupils. Pupils are required to wear facemasks, have body temperature checked and wash their hands with sanitiser to attend the ceremony at school. Together with nearly 23 million students nationwide, 2.1 million students of the capital city of Hanoi celebrated the official start of the 2020-2021 school-year on September 5 morning. In Hanoi, the municipal education department required that the new school year ceremony should not last more than 45 minutes and customary practices such as student welcoming parades and balloon releasing should be cancelled. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
Pupils are required to wear facemasks to attend the ceremony at school. Previously, more than 50 provinces and cities nationwide have announced schedules for the new school year and prepared scenarios to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) on August 25, the new school year ceremony should be held in an appropriate manner to both ensure safety and create a joyous atmosphere for students. The education ministry also requested that schools tailor their new school year activities to student ages, school facilities and local conditions, and strictly comply with disease prevention guidelines. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
Together with nearly 23 million students nationwide, 2.1 million students of the capital city of Hanoi celebrated the official start of the 2020-2021 school-year on September 5 morning. In Hanoi, the municipal education department required that the new school year ceremony should not last more than 45 minutes and customary practices such as student welcoming parades and balloon releasing should be cancelled. It is the second new year school ceremony that Hanoi Marie Curie school does not use balloons in order to protect the environment. The ceremony is held shortly within 30 minutes and pupils are arranged seat to ensure social distancing. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
The Ministry of Education and Training instructed educational departments in provinces and cities to strictly comply with regulations about the opening ceremony to ensure COVID-19 prevention and control. For provinces and cities carrying out social distancing, schools will hold an online new school year ceremony. Schools should also organise activities related to teaching and learning in the beginning of the new school year to ensure COVID-19 prevention and control. The ministry also required provinces and cities to review the number of schools, teaching equipment and teachers, especially those for the first grade, for the new school year 2020-2021 which starts on September 5 across the nation. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
Previously, the Ministry of Education and Training has turned green light to localities to hold online ceremonies for new school year 2020-2021 amid complicated evolution of COVID-19 pandemic. The ministry has devised different scenarios for the opening ceremony of the academic year (September 5), including the online option. Specifically, localities which are placed under social distancing rules must consider safety of pupils and teachers as the top priority. In the 2020-2021 academic year, students at pre-education and general education establishments will be back to schools on September 5 at the earliest and the opening ceremonies to be organised on September 5. The first semester will conclude before January 16, while the second before May 25. The academic year is to wrap up before May 31. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
Together with nearly 23 million students nationwide, 2.1 million students of the capital city of Hanoi celebrated the official start of the 2020-2021 school-year on September 5 morning. The Ministry of Education and Training instructed educational departments in provinces and cities to strictly comply with regulations about the opening ceremony to ensure COVID-19 prevention and control. For provinces and cities carrying out social distancing, schools will hold an online new school year ceremony. In Hanoi, the municipal education department required that the new school year ceremony should not last more than 45 minutes and customary practices such as student welcoming parades and balloon releasing should be cancelled. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
It is the second new year school ceremony that Hanoi Marie Curie school does not use balloons in order to protect the environment. The ceremony is held shortly within 30 minutes from 8:00 to 8:30 and pupils are arranged seat to ensure social distancing. Headmaster of Hanoi Marie Curie school, Nguyen Xuan Khang says the most important thing is ensuring safety for both the teachers and pupils. Pupils are required to wear facemasks, have body temperature checked and wash their hands with sanitiser to attend the ceremony at school. Together with nearly 23 million students nationwide, 2.1 million students of the capital city of Hanoi celebrated the official start of the 2020-2021 school-year on September 5. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
In the 2020-2021 academic year, students at pre-education and general education establishments will be back to schools on September 5 at the earliest and the opening ceremonies to be organized on September 5. The first semester will conclude before January 16, while the second before May 25. The academic year is to wrap up before May 31. The Ministry of Education and Training instructed educational departments in provinces and cities to strictly comply with regulations about the opening ceremony to ensure COVID-19 prevention and control. For provinces and cities carrying out social distancing, schools will hold an online new school year ceremony. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
Earlier on September 4, Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong extended his sentiments and best wishes to teachers, educational managers and employees who are working in the educational sector, along with all students and parents nationwide in a letter sent to all in the educational sectors. In the letter, he wrote that in the 2019-2020 academic year, although the Covid-19 epidemic has directly and seriously affected the activities of the education sector, with the spirit of "Pause going to school but do not stop studying", the education sector has actively and successfully implemented epidemic prevention and control as well as ensuring the completion of the school year plan. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) 
On September 5 morning, schools of all levels in Vietnam start a new school year, both offline and online. Given the complicated development of the COVID-19 in certain provinces and cities, the 2020-2021 new school year ceremony is celebrated like never before. While most educational facilities hold the ceremony in a shorter time than the previous years, with numbers of students attend the ceremony reduced to a minimum, schools in pandemic-heavily-stricken localities turn to online platforms to welcome the new school year, an unprecedented move recorded to date. Student parades, balloons releasing, and ceremony rehearsal in many schools are omitted this year. (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam +) VNA
