Anger at losing faith
On October 2, the People's Committee of Kim Ngan commune (Quang Tri province) announced that it had just organized a meeting between the school, the authorities and parents of Kim Thuy Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities.
At Kim Thuy Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, leaders of the Department of Education and Training, local authorities, the Board of Directors and parents of 75 boarding students held an urgent meeting after the suspected food poisoning incident that caused 40 students to be hospitalized for emergency care.
Parents all reported that breakfast at school showed signs of not being guaranteed, the food was spoiled and odorful but was still given to the children.
Many parents said that in addition to worrying about their children's health, they were also upset when the boarding job was assigned to Ms. Do Thi Hong Hue - Vice Principal.
Parents said that they have heard their children complain about poor quality meals, but still believe in the school. Now that the incident has happened, trust is completely lost.
Proposal to temporarily suspend work
At the meeting, in addition to the request to change the food supply unit and replace the catering staff, parents resolutely requested Ms. Do Thi Hong Hue to temporarily suspend her from work to ensure seriousness in handling the incident.
In response, Mr. Do Van My - Principal of the school publicly apologized to all parents. Mr. My said that he will prepare a document to submit to the local authorities, proposing to temporarily suspend the Vice Principal in charge of the boarding. At the same time, the school assigned another teacher to replace him to manage the boarding meals, waiting for the conclusion of the investigation into the suspected poisoning case.
During the time the boarding kitchen is forced to close, the school will rent a food service from a licensed facility to ensure food hygiene and safety, to reassure parents and maintain students' learning.
The commitments from the Board of Directors have somewhat relieved the worry. Many parents agree to let their children return to class from October 2, provided that all changes must be closely and transparently monitored.
Ms. Le Thi Huong - Director of the Department of Education and Training of Quang Tri expressed regret over the incident. She said that the department will work with the locality to monitor the change of boarding management, handle responsibilities, and at the same time request the school to strengthen the work of checking the quality of meals to avoid repeating incidents.
As reported by Lao Dong Newspaper, on September 26, after breakfast at Kim Thuy Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, 40 students suspected of being poisoned had to be hospitalized for treatment, and are now stable.
The incident was also controversial when the clip recorded the Vice Principal preventing students from going to the hospital despite medical staff's request for an urgent transfer, until parents put new pressure on the students to hospitalize. The Commune People's Committee is verifying the incident.
