The Hanoi Department of Education and Training has decided that the academic year of 2020-2021 will start on September 5 like in other years as the Covid-19 pandemic has been put under control, Kinh te & Do thi quoted the department’s Director Chu Xuan Dung as saying at a meeting on August 25.

The date was set after a summer vacation that is shorter than in the past due to the lengthy school closures of the 2019-20 academic year.

Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training Chu Xuan Dung speaks at the meeting. Photo: Kinhtedothi.vn

The director said that this new school year ceremony should last no more than 45 minutes.

Educational institutions will have to strictly implement measures to prevent and control the Covid-19 pandemic in accordance with the protocols, Mr. Dung added.

He noted that welcoming ceremonies held for elementary pupils are important; however, social distancing measures and wear of face masks have to be observed to ensure safety.

“In the ceremonies, schools will not be allowed to organize parades, singing performance or balloons releasing,” the director stressed.

Officials, teachers, staff, students and delegates with symptoms of cough, fever, and shortness of breath should not attend the schools’ opening ceremony. Parents should not be inside the school premises or gather in a crowd in front of the school gates.

Schools continue to ask teachers, staff and students to raise their awareness in Covid-19 prevention and control in the new normal to ensure security and safety.

Besides, schools need to perform general cleaning and disinfection before the first day of the school year and maintain daily disinfection.

Mr. Chu Xuan Dung said that in the school year of 2020-2021, Hanoi has 2,794 schools with more than two million students and remains the city with the largest educational sector in Vietnam.

Earlier, Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training had to extend the school year and streamline learning content for the second semester of the 2019-2020 academic year as students had to take a long break due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In Vietnam, the first day of school is a nationwide festival.