Many new schools, HCMC still overloaded

TP - With nearly 2.6 million students after the merger, Ho Chi Minh City still faces a big challenge as the number of classrooms cannot meet demand, even though many new schools have just been inaugurated and put into use.

Bustling new schools

As the opening day approaches, schools in Ho Chi Minh City are busy cleaning classrooms, decorating gates, and rehearsing performances to welcome the big day. In many localities, the joy is also felt when new schools with an investment of hundreds of billions are inaugurated in time for teachers and students to welcome the new school year.

Schools in Ho Chi Minh City are overloaded due to the increase in students. Photo: Huong Chi

On the morning of September 4, the People's Committee of Binh Loi commune (formerly Binh Chanh district) inaugurated Vuon Thom Primary School and Binh Loi Secondary School. Vuon Thom Primary School has an area of ​​nearly ^13,000m2 , including 30 classrooms, a boarding area, a swimming pool, a multi-purpose hall and functional rooms, with a total investment of 135 billion VND. Binh Loi Secondary School is over ^24,000m2 , including 45 classrooms, a boarding area, a multi-purpose hall, a dining hall, a swimming pool, with a budget of over 180 billion VND.

In the new school year, Ho Chi Minh City is facing pressure to build classrooms. Photo: AN

Overjoyed to be teaching at the brand new school, Ms. Phan Thi Thanh Truc, a teacher at Vuon Thom Primary School, said: “The complete facilities will help me effectively implement the 2018 general education program, while also providing first graders with many interesting experiences in a new environment.”

However, with nearly 2.6 million students after the merger, Ho Chi Minh City still faces a big challenge when the number of classrooms has not met the target of 300 classrooms/10,000 people. Sharing with reporters, leaders of many schools in Ho Chi Minh City (former Binh Duong area) said that in the 2025-2026 school year, the number of students increased sharply, causing schools to be overloaded.

In An Phu ward, the new school year has 23,116 students, an increase of 1,700 students compared to last year, but there are only 8 schools. At the primary level, more than 10,500 students are divided among 5 schools, causing half of the students to only study one session per day. At the secondary level alone, the whole ward has only one school with 4,763 students, divided into 103 classes.

An Phu Primary School currently has 3,367 students. To have enough space, the school had to use almost all of its functional rooms to arrange into 71 classrooms, each with more than 50 students. Because it could not organize boarding, the school had to cooperate with 6 outside facilities so that students had a place to eat, rest and study during the second session, in which the second session was mainly for teaching skills (3 periods/day). Similarly, Thai Hoa Secondary School (Tan Khanh Ward) was also overloaded with 3,300 students, far exceeding the designed scale of 45 classrooms. The school had to convert 5 subject rooms into classrooms, so there were no more laboratories for students.

In the new school year, the entire Binh Duong area (old) has more than 530,000 students, an increase of nearly 27,000 students - the highest increase in the past 5 years. To solve the shortage of schools, Ho Chi Minh City plans to take advantage of the headquarters of communes and wards after the merger to convert them into educational facilities. According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhat Hang - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, in this school year, Ho Chi Minh City will put into use 1,287 classrooms from the budget and about 390 classrooms from socialization. In the Binh Duong area (old) alone, 14 school buildings will be put into use, including 7 upgraded and expanded buildings, 2 newly built buildings and 5 replacement buildings or buildings on new land.

Thoroughly build new schools

With the goal of achieving 300 classrooms per 10,000 people, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City has implemented a project to build 4,500 classrooms. Mr. Tran Khac Huy, Head of the Planning and Finance Department of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the possibility of completing all 4,500 classrooms this year is very difficult. Currently, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City is focusing on reviewing land funds in the old Binh Duong and old Ba Ria - Vung Tau areas, prioritizing projects that can start construction immediately. Feasible projects that lack capital will be proposed to be included in the public investment plan for the next period. "By the end of the year, we expect to only be able to implement about 2,500 - 2,700 classrooms," he said.

According to Mr. Huy, the slow progress is partly due to the fact that before the merger, some districts had not carefully assessed the legality, planning or investment capacity when reviewing the land fund. Many projects seemed feasible but in reality the land was not "clean", there was no education planning or there were disputes. Some localities proposed 10 projects but after appraisal, only 2-3 projects could be implemented.

Faced with the slow progress of building new classrooms, the Department of Education and Training has reported to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to conduct a comprehensive review. Feasible projects will be submitted to the People's Council for comments and included in the medium-term public investment list, while unfeasible projects will be eliminated or solutions will be sought. In the old Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau areas, there are still many clean lands, the Department of Education and Training is stepping up the review to promptly arrange for school construction. In addition, Ho Chi Minh City will establish an interdisciplinary working group to regularly inspect and review project management boards in districts, wards, and communes and report to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee. Thereby, local authorities will prioritize land for education in places where there is a shortage of schools.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/nhieu-truong-moi-tphcm-van-qua-tai-post1775522.tpo