What kind of opening ceremony do students want?

Today and tomorrow (September 4 and 5), many schools in Hai Duong as well as across the country will hold opening ceremonies for the new school year.

A week ago, my children and grandchildren received notices to leave school to focus on studying the rules, writing a commitment to obey the Road Traffic Law and especially practicing for the opening ceremony of the new school year. My grandchildren even had to "work overtime" to practice because they heard that there would be leaders attending the opening ceremony at school so everything needed to be prepared more carefully.

Listening to him, I thought of a piece of information I had recently read. Implementing the direction of the Standing Committee of the Quang Ngai Provincial Party Committee on assigning provincial leaders to attend the opening ceremony of the 2023-2024 school year at a number of schools in the province, the Chairman of the Quang Ngai Provincial People's Committee recently gave his opinion on assigning the Department of Education and Training and the People's Committees of districts and towns to take the initiative in organizing the opening ceremony. It emphasized that provincial leaders attend the opening ceremony, do not give speeches and do not beat the drum to open the school year.

Similarly, the leader of the Da Nang Department of Education and Training also said that in recent years, leaders attending the opening ceremony did not give speeches, but only presented congratulatory flowers and scholarships (if any). The ceremony only lasted 45 minutes, similar to the flag-raising ceremony at the beginning of the week.

I wonder, what kind of opening ceremony do students really want?

Last year, my child entered the first grade, so he was honored to attend two ceremonies at the beginning of the new school year: One was the ceremony to welcome 6th grade students, which was organized in a separate session, and the other was the general opening ceremony of the whole school. This year, looking at the school's fanpage, I know that this is still maintained by the school. Although it is quite formal and will surely make an impression on the first grade students, it seems more cumbersome and costly.

Having attended several opening ceremonies with my children, I have seen that besides the main rituals such as the principal's speech, the drumbeat, and some welcoming performances by teachers and students, there is also a rather time-consuming part that makes students bored and uninterested, which is the speeches by the guest representatives or the congratulatory flower presentation by the Parents' Representative Committee. Since it is a representative committee, it should only be a representative, but every school has a representative presenting congratulatory flowers, so this part drags on and on.

In the opening ceremony, teachers and students are the main characters. But in the opening ceremony, because of the cumbersome diplomatic rituals, teachers and students “lose their roles”, becoming the main spectators. Moreover, with a large number of students, each grade has several hundred students, the whole school has 1,000-2,000 students, so the feeling of being cramped and hot is the impression that children remember the most when talking about the opening ceremony of the new school year.

Before the new school year, the Departments of Education and Training have issued official dispatches guiding the organization of opening ceremonies. Hopefully, schools will follow the spirit of the instructions, organizing the opening ceremony in a concise and solemn manner while still leaving a good impression on students.