Hanoi is lacking classrooms

The Hanoi Education and Training Department’s report reviewing the 2017-2018 academic year showed that 66 new schools with 22,000 classrooms have been built and VND19 trillion (US$320 million) spent to upgrade the schools’ facilities, which accounted for 25.5 percent of budget expenditures. 

Giao Duc Viet Nam (Vietnam Education) Newspaper estimates that 22,000 new classrooms can generate 770,000 new seats in schools, if one classroom accommodates 35 students.

Meanwhile, the total number of students in Hanoi is expected to increase by 134,388 in the 2018-2019 academic year compared with the 2017-2018 period.

Infornet on August 14 reported that Hanoi has 130,000 first graders this academic year, an increase of 30,000 over the last year. At some primary schools in Hanoi, each class has 60-70 students instead of 55-60 as seen last year. This is attributed to the sharp number of newborns six years ago, in the year of the golden dragon.

On online education forums, parents are sharing news that of nine classes for first graders at the Thanh Xuan Trung Primary School, seven classes have 69 students in each class and two others have 68 each. In the classes, three students share the same table.

Overcrowded classes can also be seen at the Dich Vong Primary School, where there are 60 students in each class, at Phan Dinh Giot Primary School (69) and Nguyen Trai School (64-66).

At the schools in the districts of Thanh Tri, Hoang Mai and Thanh Xuan, 64-65 students are gathered in each class. The leaders of the schools all confirmed that the number of students in each class is higher than in previous years.

Hanoi’s Vice Mayor Ngo Van Quy said Hanoi lacks classrooms in some areas because of unreasonable enrollment programming and classroom development planning.

There are 2,641 preschools and general schools, and two intermediate vocational schools with nearly 2 million students.

The Hanoi Education and Training Department, after checking the network of schools in 30 districts, has found that schools and land for schools are still lacking in the districts of Ha Dong, Hoang Mai, Dong Da and Nam Tu Liem, where there are many new urban areas and industrial zones.

Meanwhile, the land is plentiful in the suburbs, such as Ba Vi, Dong Anh and Ung Hoa, but schools have not been built because of the lack of capital.

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