In the case of a parent shedding tears looking at her child's classroom, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City urgently directed.

TPO - After Tien Phong newspaper published an article reflecting the state of the school's deteriorating facilities, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City directed relevant units and localities to urgently repair them. In the long term, it is planning to build more facilities to meet the needs of a densely populated area.

Báo Tiền Phong•21/09/2025

On the afternoon of September 21, a representative of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City had an interview with a reporter from Tien Phong newspaper regarding an article reflecting on the state of degraded facilities at a public school in the area.

According to this person, before the new school year, the Department of Education and Training issued a strong directive, requesting units to review and report on the situation of facilities and teaching equipment. After that, the Department of Education and Training compiled a list of units to direct solutions. After Tien Phong newspaper reported the situation at Vinh Tan Primary School (Vinh Tan Ward), the Department re-examined, and to date this case has not been reported.

“Immediately after Tien Phong newspaper reported, the superiors requested a report, I immediately called Mr. Lap, Chairman of Vinh Tan Ward People's Committee and the school principal to hear the report on the incident. The ward leaders admitted that the school's facilities were degraded, and said that there was a repair plan, but the bidding process would take time. I asked the ward to temporarily advance funds and urgently repair them so that parents could feel secure and students would have a good place to study. In the long term, we must consider building new facilities to meet the needs in the context of a densely populated area,” said a representative of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City.

Due to the large number of students and overload, the school had to make use of damaged desks and chairs.

Also according to a representative of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, this morning (September 21), although it was a weekend, Vinh Tan ward and related units quickly held a meeting to promptly come up with a plan to repair the facilities of the above school.

Previously, Tien Phong newspaper reported that many parents of students at Vinh Tan Primary School were heartbroken when they saw their children's classrooms in disrepair, with old desks and chairs, peeling tabletops, and rusty table legs.

Currently, the damaged student seats have been removed from the classroom to be replaced with new ones.

According to the explanation of Vinh Tan Primary School, the temporary use of old desks and chairs (used since 2003) and some old classrooms (built since 1997) is because in the 2025-2026 school year, after merging communes and wards, the number of students at the school increased dramatically with 240 students, equivalent to 5 classrooms.

Meanwhile, the school currently has only 25 classrooms for all grades from grade 1 to grade 5. Due to the increase in the number of students, the school has to arrange the class size up to 50 students/class (the regulation is no more than 35 students/class) but still lacks classrooms. Therefore, the school has to temporarily use the old desks and chairs and 5 classrooms in 2 old buildings.

The school reported to the People's Committee of Vinh Tan Ward and was immediately approved to purchase 100 new desks and chairs to supplement and replace the old ones. In the coming time, after the bidding process, the school will be fully equipped with new chairs.