Many pupils in Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces haven't been able to return to school and may have to dropout due to family difficulties after the recent floods.

Floods caused over USD4.7m of damage to Quang Binh’s schools and education facilities.

Tran Dinh Nhan, vice director of the Department of Education and Training said seven pupils were killed during the flood, classrooms were damaged and equipment swept away. "Over 2,500 tables and chairs, 450 computers, 100 printers, 50,000 textbooks and 30,000 other pieces of equipment were ruined," he said.

School supplies soaked after flood

The department is trying to resume education as quick as possible so that pupils can return on October 21. However, Nhan said the risk of drop-outs was high because many families wouldn’t be able to afford tuition.

Schools in Ha Tinh Province are also being cleaned up. As of October 18, over 10,000 pupils at 26 schools in the mountainous district of Huong Khe are unable to go to school.

Can Loc Private High School submerged in water

"Books and school supplies were soaked or swept away, so even if the pupils return to school now, they won't have anything to study with. The mud left after the flood is thick so pupils won't be able to go to schools for days," said Tran Dinh Hung, head of Huong Khe Department of Education and Training.

Cleaning up the school

Head of Ham Nghi High School Doan Minh Hien also said they had 1,236 pupils and 90% of them live in heavily-flooded areas such as Phuong Dien, Phuong My and Hoa Hai communes.

Those communes still remain isolated as water hasn't subsided. The authorities are providing foods, medicines and other support to the residents.