Standing up after the flood
For several days, at Dien Khanh 2 Town Primary School, Dien Khanh commune (Khanh Hoa), a thick layer of mud still covers the schoolyard and hallways. The school gate is stuck because of the dry mud, and a dump truck had to be hired to clear the way. Nguyen Thi Hoa, Principal of Dien Khanh 2 Town Primary School, sadly looks at the ruined library, hundreds of students empty-handed because they have lost all their books. The local government has mobilised all its forces to clean up, rearrange tables and chairs, and restore the minimum conditions to welcome students back to school soon.
In southern Khanh Hoa, many schools in Ninh Phuoc and Phuoc Hau communes are also deeply submerged. Nguyen Thi Nu, Principal of Phuoc Khanh Primary School, said: Heavy rain and floods carried mud and garbage into the school, causing deep flooding, damaging many furniture and teaching equipment. With the motto “Where the flood recedes, clean up there”, teachers, soldiers, youth volunteers, militia and self-defence forces... quickly cleaned the entire school, sprayed disinfectant to ensure epidemic prevention safety, and were ready to welcome students back to school.
Vice Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Long Bien said that the total damage to the education sector was estimated at more than 80 billion VND. Currently, 70 flooded educational facilities have been repaired. The province supports each student in the flooded area with 500,000 VND to buy books and learning tools, determined that by December 1 at the latest, students in the whole province will return to school.
In Dak Lak province, 226 educational facilities were damaged, with a total loss of about 178 billion VND. Le Trung Kien High School, located next to the Ban Thach River in Dong Hoa Ward, suffered the most damage. Le Tan Dung, Principal of the school, shared: “The fence surrounding the school collapsed; 3 school gates were swept away. All 12 classrooms with desks, chairs, computers, etc. on the first floor were submerged in floodwater and damaged. Students had to stay home from school for a whole week due to the flood, so when normalcy returns, the school will organise make-up classes to ensure that students do not lose knowledge, especially grade 12, to help them feel confident when taking the 2026 High School Graduation Exam”.
As of November 28, most students in Dak Lak province have returned to class, despite many difficulties. Director of the Department of Education and Training Le Thi Thanh Xuan said that she has proposed to the Provincial People’s Committee to urgently allocate funds to restore infrastructure and repair roads, creating safe ways to school for more than 17,000 students.
Thanks to the joint efforts of the army, police, organisations and authorities, students have basically returned to school as usual. Some areas that were partially flooded are expected to return to school early next week.
Pham Van Nam, Director of the Department of Education and Training of Gia Lai Province
Gia Lai province suffered more than 24 billion VND in damage, many schools are in a serious shortage. Nguyen Khuyen Primary School has 764/845 students who lost all their books, but they are very happy to be able to go back to school. Le Thi Bang Nguyen, Principal of the school, said: “The school has received a number of notebooks in support. For now, each student in grades 3 and 5 will be given a few notebooks to maintain their classes; many students in grades 1, 2 and 4 still do not have any. The biggest wish right now is to have more uniforms and textbooks for the students.”
Ho Thien Long, a 3C student at Phuoc Son Primary School No.2, Tuy Phuoc Dong Commune, Gia Lai, carefully turns each page of a book that is still dirty after being dried for many days. He confided: “I just hope that the rain and floods will stop, so that my friends and I can go to school with dry clothes and new books.”
Helping students in flooded areas
In recent days, facing many difficulties caused by natural disasters, the spirit of “helping each other” of the whole society has spread more than ever. In addition to the support from the Government, localities have been flexible in many forms of mobilising the whole society to donate cash, thousands of books, notebooks, uniforms, etc. from organisations, businesses, and philanthropists from all over the country to the provinces to help students in flood-affected areas continue to go to school.
The Gia Lai Provincial Association for the Promotion of Education and the Standing Committee of the Gia Lai Provincial Youth Union mobilised, donated, and presented 10,000 notebooks, 6,326 necessities, 160 scholarships, and 200 gifts to students in heavily affected areas. Along with that, many models of “Exchanging milk tea for books” at Coho shop (15 Tran Cao Van, Quy Nhon ward) initiated by Phan Thi Linna have created a spread when mobilizing more than 1,000 notebooks, 600 books, and 1,000 pens to send to students in flood-affected areas. With the support of benefactors, Khanh Hoa Provincial Newspaper, Radio and Television have presented 1,030 gifts, 2,400 notebooks, 950 sets of school uniforms, and 750 sets of school supplies to local schools.
Dak Lak Province, the Ministry of Education and Training has supported 300 million VND; Viet Nam Education Publishing House has committed to supporting textbooks, and is expected to provide enough books for students by December 4, 2025; Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Joint Stock Company has supported 2 heavily damaged schools, Le Duan Primary and Secondary School, Hoa Dong Primary School, etc.
Up to this point, most of the schools damaged by floods in Dak Lak, Khanh Hoa and Gia Lai provinces are gradually returning to normal operations. Storms and floods cannot stop the spirit of overcoming difficulties of teachers and students here.
