New urban areas face serious school shortage

Thứ Sáu, 31/03/2017, 15:56
Hanoi authorities have reassured the public that 100 percent of students in districts will be able to go to state-owned schools in the same districts as stipulated by law.

However, parents are worried after hearing that the number of students applying for some schools increased dramatically this year.

The lack of classrooms and schools is anticipated. Many new urban areas have arisen, but new schools have not been built. 

A report of the Hanoi Education & Training Department shows that there are 252 urban areas, but there are only 56 schools in 25 urban areas.

In some areas, no new school has been set up in the last few years despite the rapid increase in the population. These include Thanh Cong, Giang Vo Wards in Ba Dinh District, Lang Ha in Dong Da District and Minh Khai in Hai Ba Trung.

An education expert commented with the current population, there should be 3-4 primary schools in every ward, but there is only one.

In previous years, to arrange enough seats for all students in the localities, schools had to put 50-60 students into one class. The situation is expected to be seen again in the new 2016-2017 academic year because the high number of registered students this year.

In Hoang Mai District, for example, 710 first graders study in 14 classes at Dinh Cong Primary School. At Thuy Linh Primary School, the figures are 172 students and 4 classes. The Den Lu Primary School has to arrange seats for 381 students in eight classes.

In Cau Giay District, Nam Trung Yen School has to put 315 students into 7 classes, while Nghia Do School has 343 students, but has 7 classes only.

In Xa La urban area, nearly 10 apartment blocks have been built, but there is no school in the area. 

Deputy director of the Hanoi Education & Training Department Pham Van Dai said that the city has been striving toward ‘three increases & three decreases’ principle (decrease number of students going to schools not in their localities; decrease number of students in every class; and decrease number of classrooms in every school), however, the goal remains unattainable because of the high migration rate in some districts.

Also according to Dai, the department has been regularly updating information about the number of students of school age. Though many new schools have been built in recent years, they still cannot satisfy demand.

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