Students at an opening ceremony of the 2023-24 school year in Thăng Long Primary School, Hoàn Kiếm District, Hà Nội.—VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Tùng

Lack of public schools has been an ongoing dilemma for the education sector in Hà Nội.

Statistics from the People's Committee of Đống Đa District showed that the district still lacked four public primary schools and six public secondary schools.

The same situation is also seen in other districts like Hoàng Mai, Cầu Giấy, Bắc Từ Liêm and Nam Từ Liêm, Director of Hà Nội’s Education and Training Department Trần Thế Cương said.

According to the department, Hoàng Mai District is one of the areas with the highest number of students in the city.

Average class sizes in preschools, primary and secondary schools in the district all exceeded the current allowed levels. In preschools the district recorded an average of 38.6 children per class, in primary schools, 47.6 students per class. The district’s secondary schools averaged 45.5 students per class, while high schools recorded 46 students per class.

Regulations issued by the Ministry of Education and Training said the number of students at the preschool and primary levels is not allowed to be higher than 35 per class.

The number of students per class at the secondary and high school levels is not allowed to be higher than 45.

In Cầu Giấy District, head of the Education and Training Section Phạm Ngọc Anh said the district currently had 102 schools with more than 75,000 students, including 41 public schools with 51,000 students.

The average number of students per class in local schools already exceeds the ministry’s standard numbers, he said.

It was predicted that by 2030, the district would face a lack of 29 public schools at all levels, while the land fund for constructing the schools was increasingly limited, he said.

Recommendations and plans

To fix the situation, the People's Committee of Đống Đa District had proposed the city administration prioritise land funds to build more public schools to meet the local demand.

Nam Từ Liêm District would build an additional three high schools by 2025, according to Resolution 02/NQ-HDND dated February 8, 2022, said Trần Thanh Long, acting chairman of the District People's Committee.

Nguyễn Minh Tâm, chairman of the People's Committee of Hoàng Mai District, said that currently the district was implementing 24 school construction projects to address the situation of public school shortage.

Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Trần Sỹ Thanh said that Hoàng Mai District must review and reassess the demand on public schools of local people and deploy tasks to meet the demand.

The district was also told to review the overall land funds to build public schools and finish the projects as soon as possible.

Statistics showed that the city has received an additional 40,000 - 50,000 students each year, meaning it needs at least an additional of 20 public schools each year.

To solve the problem of lacking public schools due to rapidly increasing numbers of students, triggered by the rapid population growth in the city, Resolution 02/NQ-HĐND issued by the city administration last year said that the city would build an additional 139 public schools in the period of 2021-25.

The city has planned to allocate VNĐ20.9 trillion (US$859 million) to build more public schools in the period 2021-25.

Director of the city’s education and training department Trần Thế Cường said the department would work with the city’s Planning and Architecture Department and Natural Resources and Environment Department as well as districts to reverse land areas in suspended projects to quickly build more public schools.

The number of public schools in the city would gradually increase each year, with an additional 30-35 schools to be constructed each year to have enough space for children to study, he said.

In an attempt to reduce pressure due to the lack of public schools, the city’s education and training department recently proposed the education ministry to allow Hà Nội to apply a special mechanism in the admissions at public high schools from the 2023-24 school year.

The ministry was requested to allow increasing from 45 classes to 50 classes per high school; and increasing from 45 students to 50 students per class, the department said. — VNS