Certain fully-vaccinated students in their final junior college and university year were back on campus to attend in-person classes in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday after more than five months studying online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Their schools are the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education in Thu Duc City and Cao Thang Technical College in District 1.

The senior students, all of whom received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine and registered for face-to-face lectures, were requested to perform health declarations and use hand sanitizer upon their arrival at campuses.

Their return to schools was meant for attending practical classes and graduation projects, which are seen as inefficient given the online mode. 

A number of them had already graduated but had yet to take practical classes.

“Face-to-face learning is a much easier way to absorb knowledge and interact with teachers than online learning,” said Nguyen Quoc Huu Truong, a mechatronics senior at Cao Thang Technical College.

Fully-vaccinated students like Truong will defend their graduation projects on November 18 while those pending a second jab will present their projects in December, according to Nguyen Thanh Phuoc, head of the mechatronics faculty at Cao Thang Technical College.

Other students returning to the college also included those who are preparing for the national vocational exam scheduled for December, Phuoc added.

Ho Chi Minh City has been the biggest epicenter in the country since the fourth outbreak began on April 27, with over 433,000 local cases and around 16,500 deaths.

Since May, universities and junior colleges across the metropolis have closed their campuses for pandemic prevention.

The national government has relaxed pandemic control curbs over the past few weeks as transmissions have slowed down, due in part to larger vaccine coverage.

The city of about nine million people had administered over 13.3 million vaccine doses as of Monday afternoon, with more than 5.7 million people fully inoculated.

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