Nearly 23 million students across Vietnam celebrated the official start of the 2022-23 school year on Monday morning.

The new school year ceremony took place in a solemn and brief manner, with a focus on welcoming newcomers to schools, in line with directions from the Ministry of Education and Training.

Due to the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, schools in the country did not hold opening ceremonies for the 2021-22 academic year.

In Ho Chi Minh City, chairwoman of the municipal People’s Council Nguyen Thi Le attended the opening ceremony at Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, one of the oldest schools in the city, while chairman of the People’s Committee Phan Van Mai joined the new school year celebration at Ly Nhon Elementary School in rural Can Gio District.

Notably, Mai dedicated a part of his remarks to parents. 

“I come from Ben Tre Province, whose living conditions are similar to those in Can Gio,” the chairman said. 

“I hope that the more difficult it is, the more parents will try to send their children to school. 

“I hope after sending your children into the first grade today, you will send them to college in the future. 

“Studying will help your children have a better future.”

In Da Nang City, Monday morning’s ceremony was the first in-person school year opening celebration for many 12th graders after two years in high school due to COVID-19.

Nguyen Tue Giang, a 12th grader of Phan Chu Trinh High School, said that she was so looking forward to this morning that she could not sleep last night.

Many peers of Giang felt sad that the ceremony lasted just 30 minutes as they consider it a beautiful memory from their time in school.

In the Central Highlands region, many children living in remote areas enjoyed Monday morning’s school opening ceremony despite their needy situation.

Among them were 170 students aged six to eight of La Van Cau Elementary School, located more than 30 kilometers from the center of Dak R’Mang Commune in Dak Glong District of Dak Nong Province.

Their journey to the school began in the early morning and included walking barefoot on steep, muddy roads. 

During the ceremony, Dinh Thi Hang, deputy head of the Dak Glong District education office, gifted 100 sets of new textbooks to them, who had neither new clothes nor books.

In some distant areas in Lak and Krong Bong Districts of Dak Lak Province, many teachers and students even departed from their homes a day before, crossing forest and mountains, to arrive at their schools on time for Monday morning’s ceremony. 

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