According to the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, Hanoi had built 43 new public and private schools as of mid-August to prepare for the new academic year. 

Of these, 27 are public (10 kindergartens, 9 primary schools, 5 secondary schools, and 3 high schools), and 16 are private (7 kindergartens, 4 primary schools, and 5 secondary schools).

This brings the total number of public and private schools in Hanoi to 2,954, with around 70,500 classes to serve over 2.3 million students, or 60,000 more than in 2024-2025. Among them, 2,337 are public schools.

Additionally, Hanoi has 29 continuing education and vocational centers, with about 29,000 students.

However, there are only about 200 public and private high schools, and the number of public schools just accounts for 58 percent, a low figure compared with the actual demand.

To enhance facilities, Hanoi has built three new public high schools: Do Muoi High School (formerly Hoang Mai District), Phuc Thinh High School (formerly Dong Anh District), and a high school at plot A11 Trung Hoa (formerly Cau Giay District).

Do Muoi had a total investment of VND332 billion, with VND228 billion for construction and VND46 billion for equipment. This new school has five above-ground floors, one basement, 45 classrooms, an administrative building, a multipurpose hall, and other functional rooms.

For preschools, many were built years ago with limited space, making it difficult to expand for functional rooms like IT, foreign language, or libraries. The proportion of schools with computer rooms is low. For private preschools, facilities are often rented from residential properties, so some do not meet childcare standards.

At the primary school level, due to sharp increases in student numbers, some schools lack adequate facilities and classrooms, leading to class sizes exceeding permitted levels.

Regarding the planning of classrooms to ensure quality and meet educational reform, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training reported that some planned school construction projects have not been implemented, or progress is slow, leading to shortages of schools and classrooms. 

The development of the school network has not kept pace with population growth. In some rapidly urbanizing wards and communes. There is still a shortage of learning spaces, resulting in class sizes of 50-60 students.

Shortage of English, IT, and music teachers

By May 2025, Hanoi had 127,600 teachers. including 49,397 at preschools, 31,791 at primary schools, 28,528 at secondary, and 14,614 at high schools.

Of these, 87,788 work at public schools, and 39,812 at private schools. The proportion of teachers meeting training standards is 81 percent at the preschool level (94 percent for public preschool teachers), 92.05 percent at the primary education level, 99 percent at the secondary level, and 100 percent at the high school level.

At the preschool level, there is a shortage of teachers in some areas, with a relatively low proportion of teachers meeting standards and uneven competency, especially in independent private preschools.

At the primary level, Hanoi’s Department of Education and Training notes that the quality of teachers and education managers is uneven, with some schools lacking English and IT teachers.

At the secondary level, some schools face local teacher shortages or surpluses, with uneven teacher quality and a lack of IT teacher recruitment sources.

The department stressed that one of the biggest problems is the disparity in teacher and education quality between urban and suburban schools. Some schools face teacher shortages or surpluses, with shortages of accounting staff, medical staff, and teachers for music and IT across the sector.

Tran The Cuong, Director of Hanoi’s Department of Education and Training, said that one of the main tasks for the 2025-2026 school year is to review the planning of the education and training network to meet standards and ensure quality education.

One solution is the “teacher bank” model, where education authorities directly reallocate teachers from schools with surpluses to those with shortages, combined with flexible scheduling to ensure uninterrupted teaching.

The Hanoi Department of Education and Training has launched a recruitment plan for nearly 1,000 staff for schools, including 848 teachers and 94 support staff. A total of 117 public schools have registered specific recruitment quotas by subject. Literature and English have the highest quotas (105 each), followed by physical education (81) and mathematics (79).

Thuy Nga