Unexpected results of the general review of school facilities after the direction of the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee

(NLDO) - Statistics show that about 125 educational facilities in Ho Chi Minh City have seriously degraded construction items, posing a safety risk to students and teachers.

The Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City has had a specific report following the direction of the Chairman of the City People's Committee in Official Dispatch 2057/2025 of the City People's Committee on a general review and consultation on a master plan for facilities and teaching equipment at all public schools in the city.

The Department of Education and Training said that after the merger, the scale of the education and training sector has clearly shown its size and quantity. Specifically, in the 2025-2026 school year, Ho Chi Minh City will have nearly 2.6 million students and nearly 3,600 schools.

Although the number of schools is large, it is not commensurate with the development of the new Ho Chi Minh City. The current situation still has some shortcomings such as: The number of schools and classrooms is still not enough to meet the demand for learning places for children of the right age in the city. The number of students in a class is still high, the pressure and lack of learning places in each commune, ward and special zone in Ho Chi Minh City is not uniform, some places lack a lot of classrooms but some places have almost no or little demand.

Statistics up to June 2025, in Ho Chi Minh City before the merger, there were 297 classrooms/10,000 people (it is expected that by the end of 2025, Ho Chi Minh City before the merger will reach 300 classrooms/10,000 people of school age from 3 to 18 years old). However, this ratio is not equal between school levels, specifically: from 3 to under 6 years old, there are 478 classrooms, from 6 to under 11 years old, there are 262 classrooms, from 11 to under 15 years old, there are 237 classrooms, from 15 to 18 years old, there are 257 classrooms.

Up to now, after the merger, Ho Chi Minh City has only achieved 277 classrooms/10,000 school-age people (from 3 to 18 years old) (of which: Binh Duong province has achieved 200; Ba Ria - Vung Tau has achieved 316; Ho Chi Minh City (before the merger) has achieved 297).

A classroom at Dong An Primary School (Region II - Ho Chi Minh City)

The number of classrooms is not enough to organize 2 sessions/day according to the ratio prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training for all levels of education. Many schools and classrooms have been invested in and built beyond their useful life and are increasingly degraded or built according to old, outdated standards that are no longer safe and do not meet the needs of use and the requirements of the current educational program.

According to the report, there are about 3,253 classrooms and department rooms in need of maintenance and repair.

In addition to classrooms and department rooms, educational institutions need to repair many items to meet the needs of use. Among them, there is a need to invest in construction to replace seriously degraded construction items that pose a risk of safety. Specifically, there are about 125 educational institutions in Ho Chi Minh City with seriously degraded construction items that pose a risk of safety for students and teachers. Of which, preschool: 40; primary: 53, secondary: 29. The main reason is that these items were built a long time ago, past their use-by date (over 20 years), so they are severely degraded, small-scale repairs are ineffective, wasting investment capital.

Previously, on September 22, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc signed a document sent to leaders of departments, branches, People's Committees of wards, communes, special zones and related units on a general review and consultation on a master plan for facilities and teaching equipment at all public schools in the city.

According to the Chairman of the City People's Committee, recently, the press and public opinion have reflected that some schools in the city have seriously degraded facilities, directly affecting the quality of teaching and learning, causing frustration among parents and people.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/bat-ngo-ket-qua-tong-ra-soat-co-so-vat-chat-truong-hoc-sau-chi-dao-cua-chu-cich-ubnd-tp-hcm-196251014150605436.htm