Ho Chi Minh City still has a situation of school and classroom overload.

According to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, primary schools must ensure that the number of students per class does not exceed 35. However, in Ho Chi Minh City, many schools have more than 50 students per class, while most of the remaining schools have more than 40 students per class.

After the merger, in the 2025-2026 school year, Ho Chi Minh City will have 3,528 schools and 2,528,789 students from preschool to high school, an increase of 39,632 students compared to the 2024-2025 school year. Ho Chi Minh City will put into use 1,287 classrooms from the budget and accelerate the progress of the Project to build 4,500 classrooms. By the end of 2025, it is expected to complete about 2,000 classrooms (approximately 50% of the target), the rest will be completed in 2026. The project is associated with the target of building 300 classrooms/10,000 people. Before the merger, Ho Chi Minh City had 297 classrooms, after the merger it decreased to 277 classrooms/10,000 people.

Many schools in Ho Chi Minh City have overcrowded classes, affecting students' learning.

Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Office of the City Department of Education and Training, said that in the 2025-2026 school year, the city will continue to ensure 100% of school places for children of local residents, and ensure conditions for facilities and equipment to organize activities at educational institutions to meet the requirements of the general education program. Although the city ensures 100% of school places, many classes are very crowded and overloaded. The main reasons are identified as a lack of teachers, a lack of schools, and pressure on student numbers in some rapidly developing areas.

After the administrative boundary arrangement, Ho Chi Minh City has reviewed and recorded significant differences in infrastructure conditions between regions. Many schools have been invested in and built for a long time, but are now deteriorating and need to be maintained, repaired or replaced to ensure safety. In addition, there are a number of schools that do not meet the standards of infrastructure according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training .

The difficulties are mainly concentrated in densely populated, bordering or rapidly urbanizing areas, which are facing student overload. The items that are still lacking or degraded include: Classrooms not enough to organize 2 sessions/day; functional rooms, libraries, and specialized rooms that are not up to standard or are in the process of being completed; equipment, tables and chairs and auxiliary infrastructure in a few schools are still lacking or damaged.

At Nguyen Hien Primary School (Binh Trung Ward, Ho Chi Minh City), this school year there are a total of 35 classes with 1,647 students. Parents reported that class 3/3 has 53 students. Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong, the school principal, said that this school year there are 8 3rd grade classes, most of which have large numbers; for class 1 there are up to 9 classes, some with 50 students. However, the school arranges for students to study properly.

According to observations by CAND Newspaper reporters, due to the large number of students in the class, there is no space left at the back of the classroom because the school has to put desks and chairs for students to sit and study.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong said that the large number of students is due to the lack of teachers and the Department of Education and Training assigns students to different classes. Based on the number of students assigned to different classes and the number of classrooms available, the school assigns classes. For grade 3, if there is a change at the end of the first semester, parents will request to transfer their children to another school, and the number of students will decrease. This year, there are 8 grade 3 students; in the new school year, the school will arrange them into 9 grade 4 students.

At Hanh Thong Primary School (Hanh Thong Ward, Ho Chi Minh City), Ms. Le Thi Hong Nhung, the school's principal, said that there are a total of 1,376 students divided into 32 classes, with an average of 42 students per class.

According to the feedback from parents of students at Hanh Thong Primary School, for grade 1, there are 50 students in a class. The school principal said that according to the plan, 250 students will be divided into 6 grade 1 classes, but in reality, at the beginning of the school year, there were 225 students, so the school arranged 5 grade 1 classes. Of which, 148 students registered to study math and science in English, so the school divided 148 students into 3 classes, including 2 classes of 50 students and 1 class of 48 students. The remaining 2 classes only study general English communication, so the number of students is smaller. For grade 3, there are 6 classes, including 2 classes of 48 students, the remaining classes also have over 40 students each.

Ms. Nhung said that the arrangement of class size like that is due to the large number of students registering for the math and science program in English, and also to compensate for the loss when students transfer schools. The board of directors knows that the number of students is large, but they have discussed with the teachers and the teachers have agreed to share the difficulties with the school to accept the class. The school is also planning to increase the number of teachers compared to the regulations, so the arrangement of class size depends on the number of teachers according to the regulations. On September 30, the working group of the Ward People's Committee came to inspect the school and agreed to let the school repair 6 items to meet the teaching and learning needs.

In addition to the two schools above, many classes have large numbers of students. There are many other schools in Ho Chi Minh City that also have large numbers of students, exceeding the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, affecting teachers' teaching and students' learning.

After CAND Newspaper and some other newspapers reported on the state of degraded schools, on September 22, 2025, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc signed and issued Official Dispatch No. 2057/UBND-TH directing the Department of Education and Training, relevant agencies and chairmen of People's Committees of communes, wards and special zones to conduct a general review and advise on a comprehensive plan for facilities and teaching equipment at all public schools in the city.

In particular, classify and assess the level of damage and degradation; advise on overall treatment plans, including urgent repairs and new construction investment plans in areas with rapid population growth, to avoid overloading, to ensure stable school size and complete the school year's tasks well. At the same time, proactively arrange and advance funds from the local budget to immediately repair items at risk of being unsafe, ensuring learning conditions for students and teachers.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/giao-duc/tp-ho-chi-minh-van-con-tinh-trang-qua-tai-truong-lop-i783519/