The student of the Tran Dang Ninh Primary School in Hanoi's Ha Dong District was able to watch the new school year opening ceremony broadcast on the Hanoi Radio and Television Station at 7:30 a.m.

As more than 20 million Vietnamese students began a new school year Sunday, the ongoing outbreak forced many schools to cancel their opening ceremonies, scale them down or go virtual.

Fourth grader Ngoc is one of two million students in Hanoi to welcome the new school year opening ceremony online. With over 3,700 infections and strict lockdown measures, Hanoi held an opening ceremony for the new school year at the Trung Vuong Secondary School in Hoan Kiem District with participation of teachers, school staff and over 20 students. The ceremony was televised and also broadcast online.

Over 20 other provinces and cities, mainly in the central and southern regions, also kicked off the new school year opening ceremonies online or via television. Due to the worsening situation of the outbreak triggered by Delta variant of the novel coronavirus, many schools are being used as quarantine facilities. After the ceremony, most students have to study online.

In HCMC, epicenter of the ongoing outbreak with over 250,000 infections, 1.3 million students entered their new school year without opening ceremonies. Secondary and high school students will begin online classes from Monday while primary students will have two weeks to get familiar with online study before entering the official curriculum in mid-September.

The municipal education sector said all students would have to study online during the first semester, but more than 75,000 children are unable to do so because of a lack of equipment and internet speed. In addition, another 6,600 students have contracted Covid-19 and being treated at home or quarantine facilities. Many students’ parents have died of Covid-19.

The provinces of Ca Mau and Quang Binh scrapped their opening ceremonies, while Dong Thap, Hau Giang, Ben Tre, Long An, Tra Vinh, Dong Nai and Hau Giang deferred them to between September 13 to 20 and are yet to decide which form they will take.

Over 20 localities in northern provinces where the pandemic situation has been brought under control allowed their students to attend scaled down new year opening ceremonies in their schools with strict restrictions. All students and teachers must comply with safety measures like face masks and hand sanitizers.

In the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak that began late April, Vietnam has recorded nearly 507,000 infections.