VietNamNet Bridge – Many schools in HCM City fear they cannot achieve the Ministry of Education and Training's newly set standards for schools because of the lack of facilities and funds.

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The new standards, which took effect on January 6, require a class to have no more than 35 children at the primary level and 45 at the high-school level.

The average space available for a student should be at least six square metres in inner districts and 10sq.m in outlying areas.

But these have attracted a litany of complaints. Ha Thanh Hai, principal of Luong The Vinh Primary School in District 7, said his school can meet the standards set for staff and facilities, but not for number of students. It has an average of 45 in a classroom, he said.

Nguyen Van Vuong, principal of Nguyen Gia Thieu Secondary School in Tan Binh District, said, "while the stipulations on space and number are essential to improve quality, nearly 50 per cent of the schools were built more than 40 years ago."

"As a result, they are too small to meet the standards," he said.

His school has 2,100 students and requires more than 12,000 square metres of land under the new guidelines.
But it only measures 9,000sq.m.

Tran Phu Thao, principal of Nguyen Van Troi Secondary School in Go Vap District, said many schools in the district would be unable to fulfill the conditions.

Even many schools that met the old standards for training quality, facilities, and development strategy are worried about the number of students they have.

Nguyen Thuong Hien High School, for instance, has an increasing number of students in each classroom.

Last year the number of children passing the entrance exams was high, causing it to have 45 students in each class.

At the end of last year, the city Department of Education and Training listed dozens of schools for evaluation.

But it does not include any in District 1 where many schools that earlier met national standards are situated.

School authorities here said they would fail to meet the criteria related to space and number of students.
Many of them do not have playgrounds either, they said.

Source: VNS