Prolonged shortage of classrooms

Hong Lac Secondary School (Thanh Ha) had to convert subject rooms into classrooms due to a shortage of 7 rooms.

Lack from urban to rural

It is surprising that Hai Duong City - the center of the province - is lacking quite a lot of classrooms. Principal of Ngoc Chau Secondary School Pham Thanh Nga said that for about 3 years now, the school has had to use 6 subject rooms as classrooms, leading to a lack of subject rooms. "Every year, the school's student population increases by about 100 students. The number of students in a class is up to 46 students, not meeting the regulations. Not having a subject room has a significant impact on the quality of education," Ms. Nga said.

In the 2021-2022 school year, Tan Binh Secondary School (Hai Duong City) has more than 2,100 students but only 28 classrooms and 5 subject rooms. Without enough classrooms, the school is forced to let students study 2 sessions/day. "This situation has lasted for many years. Teaching 2 sessions/day makes staff and teachers very tired and stressed, but there is no other way," said Principal of Tan Binh Secondary School Vu Thi Thuy Huong.

Tu Ky is currently the locality with the most classrooms in the province and this situation has lasted from year to year. Statistics from the district's Department of Education and Training show that the locality still lacks 140 classrooms. In the 2021-2022 school year, students from many schools in the district still have to continue to study in cultural houses in villages or temporarily in other functional rooms. For example, An Thanh Kindergarten and Primary School have a total of 10 classrooms and 18 temporary classrooms. Ha Ky and Ha Thanh Primary Schools each have 3 classrooms... Those rooms often do not ensure the area or other conditions such as lighting and fans. Most of the classrooms are cultural houses in villages. The activities of the surrounding people make it impossible for students to concentrate on their studies as at school.

The shortage of classrooms is common in all localities. Even Cam Giang district, where educational facilities are invested synchronously and the rate of schools meeting national standards is high in the province, is still lacking about 15 classrooms. Similarly, Thanh Ha district is also lacking dozens of classrooms. In places lacking classrooms, schools are forced to convert their subject rooms into classrooms. Without subject rooms, students cannot practice and experiment, which greatly affects their perception, thinking and learning quality. "Without subject rooms, teachers and students have to carry all the experimental equipment from the warehouse to the classroom. After finishing the lesson, they bring it back down, which is very difficult. It is common for a class to have music lessons that make noise and affect the surrounding classes in places lacking classrooms," said a teacher at a secondary school in Thanh Ha.

Priority is given to eliminating temporary classrooms and study rooms.

Localities in the province have been devoting large resources to improving infrastructure for educational facilities, prioritizing the elimination of temporary classrooms and shared learning.

Head of the Department of Education and Training of Hai Duong City Le Thi My Phuong said that the city will allocate resources for this work by prioritizing the elimination of degraded and unsafe classrooms first, followed by building classrooms for units that are lacking, aiming to meet national standards. This year, the city will invest in building new classrooms for 8 schools such as Nguyen Trai Kindergarten, Binh Minh Kindergarten, Nguyen Luong Bang Primary School, Hai Tan Primary School, etc.

Many communes in Tu Ky and Thanh Ha districts are also investing in expanding school areas, building more functional rooms, administrative buildings, and classrooms for schools. However, due to the large budget for these projects, resource mobilization is facing many difficulties. Most localities are waiting for funds collected from auctioning land use rights, but this cannot be done immediately.

In 2020, the Provincial People's Committee implemented the Project to build and supplement classrooms in educational institutions in the province for the period 2020-2025. During this period, the province will build 1,012 standard solid classrooms to replace temporary and shared classrooms, with a total estimated cost of 764 billion VND. Specifically, by 2022, it is striving to build 556 new classrooms to eliminate temporary and shared classrooms, especially at educational institutions that are building national standard schools for the first time. In the years 2023-2025, the province will build 456 more classrooms, ensuring that educational institutions in the province have enough solid classrooms.

According to local feedback, the disbursement of the above capital source is still slow. Localities recommend that the province soon find a solution to overcome this difficulty to end the shortage of classrooms that has existed for many years.

DAWN