Around 1.7 million Saigon students will stay home until April 5, while Hanoi schools will only reopen around March 23 or 30.
High school students – 10th to 12th graders – in Hanoi will stay home until March 22 and younger students for another week.
Twelve graders across the country are facing pressure to catch up with their studies ahead of summer graduation exams, scheduled for July this year.
High school seniors in 59 provinces and cities across the country resumed classes on March 2 after a break of over a month, owing to fears over the spreading coronavirus.
The country’s two largest metropolises Hanoi and HCMC, Tien Giang Province in the south and Thai Binh Province in the north are the only four localities in the country to have students at all levels stay away from classes until March 8 or 15.
But 28 new coronavirus cases over the past week, including five in Hanoi and one in HCMC, have led to change of plans. VNExpress, a local media reports.
Five US states are closing all schools over coronavirus fears
Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Michigan and New Mexico have become the first US states to shut all K-12 schools over coronavirus concerns. CNN reports.
Washington may be next; Gov. Jay Inslee told school districts across the state to prepare to close, while some large school districts have already shut.
In Maryland, all schools will close for two weeks, from March 16-27.
In Ohio, all schools — including public, private, and, charter — will close from March 16 through at least April 3, a closure that impacts 1.66 million students.
In Kentucky, all public and private schools are suspending in-person classes starting March 16, for at least two weeks. If approved by the state’s education department, school districts may use “non-traditional instruction” instead, like remote learning.
In New Mexico, all public elementary and secondary schools will close starting March 16, for three weeks.
In Michigan, all K-12 schools will be closed from March 16 through April 6.
It’s not just states — many cities have also decided to close entire school districts, including San Francisco, Denver, Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Seattle, and New Rochelle in New York state.