Those are the lines in the song "Going to School" (music by Bui Dinh Thao, poetry by Hoang Minh Chinh) that many generations of students memorize. Our generation still has "In childhood, going to school twice a day / Loving homeland through each small book page" like Giang Nam's poem. Meaning going to school every day, crossing golden ripe rice fields, green longan trees, together using clay to make firecrackers... without needing parents or grandparents to pick them up and drop them off at school.
Society has changed a lot now, and children's learning conditions are also better. But there is a rare thing, which is that now very few families let their children "go to class alone". The reason is also understandable, there are many "unsafe" conditions for children. From road traffic being too complicated, many risks to the possibility of being bullied on the road.
Taking and picking up children from school now becomes a "natural" thing for parents. It seems to be an "irremplaceable" task and has become a nightmare for many people.
Where I work, there are fathers and mothers who have to wake up very early to prepare food for their children, then take their children to school with a distance of dozens of kilometers. In the afternoon, they are busy timing to pick up their children. They are always busy and stressed. Some people accept and spend taxi fares every day. Parents book technology cars for their children, follow their children to school, call to check if they have arrived and then feel secure in working.
Some schools organize shuttle buses for students, this is also convenient but... costly. A woman with a child in 7th grade at my office said that her house is only 3km from her child's school, but the shuttle bus fare is 3 million VND per month. "Students far away are even more expensive," she said.
This means that the matter of "children going to school", if it doesn't take time and health, will cost money.
Can this be changed? About 10 years ago, during a business trip to Japan, I was impressed by the story told by a Vietnamese tour guide living in Japan: "Parents do not take Japanese children to school. From a young age, they have to walk to school, or take school buses.
When I showed surprise, the tour guide explained: "In Vietnam, most elementary school students are picked up and dropped off by their parents, but in Japan, they have to walk to school by themselves. In the land of the rising sun, you will see scenes of children wearing formal uniforms, baseball caps walking alone or in groups of friends to school without adults accompanying them, the youngest is only about 6 or 7 years old.
In the eyes of Japanese parents, the above is completely normal. In fact, letting children walk to school is a simple but very important first step for Japanese parents to teach children lifelong self-reliance skills.
“Japanese education is very special. From a young age, children are imbued with the collective concept: Towards others and serving others. This concept allows them to look towards strangers safely," he said. Of course, to achieve this, Japan has had to do a lot, from establishing primary schools divided by population density, ensuring that most students can walk to school within 15 to 20 minutes. Public space in Japan is planned very scientifically, controlling traffic flow and speed of vehicles. On Japanese roads, warning signs are erected everywhere to ensure safety for children when traveling. On the ground and on telephone poles, there are signs indicating walkways for students to go to school so that everyone pays attention to children's safety.
The school also assigns the task of "protecting school children" to the in charge teacher. Every day when going to school, the assigned teacher will guide students to safely pass through some crowded intersections and complicated traffic outside the school.
I ask many parents, if they have the conditions (like Japan), are they willing to let their children "go to class alone"? The answer is very hesitant. Because sending children to school, in this day and age, is like a "culture".
In fact, many localities have also calculated to match between their children's school hours and their parents' working hours. Last year, some schools in Ho Chi Minh City planned to postpone school hours to avoid peak hours and traffic jams, so many parents had to object, how can they take their children to school postponed because they are still entangled in... working hours. So there were controversies when some people said "Vietnamese parents waste time taking their children to school". And not only time, but also the efficiency and productivity of work are affected when having to take their children to school and pick them up. There are objections, because traffic in Vietnam is complicated, not to mention social issues, making the road from home to school not safe.
But clearly, this is an issue that Vietnamese educators need to study, because, looking from the Japanese education system, with children going to school on their own, it shows many benefits in shaping personality, independence and sharing from them. At the same time, it also helps parents have more time and effort to focus on work efficiency.
Vietnam is aiming for happy schools, so it also needs solutions to have "safe and convenient roads to school". Doing this also contributes to building the country in the future.
The new school year is starting again with many new things. How to make every parent stop worrying about "children going to school" is no longer just a matter for each family, but also a matter for society.
