Lai Chau (VNA) – With only a few days before classes resume in the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau, teachers and staff are rushing to clean classrooms, check facilities, arrange boarding meals and accommodation, and repair storm damage.
The push is aimed at ensuring a safe and smooth start to the 2026 - 2027 school year.
At Then Sin kindergarten in Sin Suoi Ho commune, teachers are busy scrubbing desks, chairs, teaching materials, toys and classrooms; the school gate and fences have been repainted and repaired, giving the campus a fresher, more spacious look. Many Parents have set aside farming and household work to join the preparations.
Di Thi Chu, a resident of Lo Thang village, said her family paused their work to help after teachers notified parents; her grandchild is entering kindergarten this year.
“Seeing the school and classrooms clean and well-maintained, with teaching materials carefully cleaned, we feel more reassured about sending our children to school”, she said.
The parent involvement reduces the workload for schools and signals shared responsibility for children’s care and education.
Then Sin kindergarten had nearly 300 students last academic year, with attendance above 98%, stunting below 10% and educational quality at 98.6%. To sustain those results, the school began preparations early.
Vice Principal Kieu Thi Hue said the school has one main campus and two village-based sites, and has assigned teachers by their capability and rotated them among sites to balance staffing.
The school has checked facilities, bought teaching equipment and pushed student attendance. All teachers, staff and parents have cleaned the grounds, decorated the campus and upgraded facilities.
At Nam Xe semi-boarding primary school for ethnic minority students, preparations are also accelerating. Teachers have cleaned grounds and classrooms and improved landscaping; dining, accommodation and living areas have been arranged and inspected to provide a stable and safe learning environment.
Principal Phan Tien Dung said the school has mobilised teachers and parents to clean the entire campus, from classrooms, playgrounds, dining hall and boarding facilities, and is ensuring adequate facilities to welcome first-graders first, then other grades. It expects 62 managers, teachers and staff, 27 classes and more than 640 students at five sites this year.
At Phuc Than kindergarten in Muong Than commune, preparations are proceeding under more difficult conditions. Recent flooding hit several school sites, including Team 11. The school is repairing damage and planning to move students from Team 11 to Ban Chit and the main campus for safety.
It also proposed funding to repair the Ban Chit school site and provide additional teaching and learning equipment. It has assigned tasks to teachers and staff, cleaned school sites and classrooms, and built a vegetable garden for the children.
Under the Ministry of Education and Training’s 2026-2027 academic calendar, most students will return on August 29, while first-, ninth- and 12th-graders returned August 22. Classes will begin nationwide on September 5.
So far, most schools in mountainous areas are completing the final preparations to welcome students back for the new academic year./.
