Urgent need to standardize high school facilities in Quang Nam

Le Quy Don High School needs to expand by 10,000m2 to ensure area. Photo: Xuan Phu

Urgent need

According to Mr. Thai Viet Tuong - Director of the Department of Education and Training, in recent years, along with socio -economic development, the education and training sector has had many positive changes. The scale of education is increasing, facilities and equipment are being enhanced.

However, compared to the requirements for fundamental and comprehensive innovation in education and training and the expectations of the people, Quang Nam education and training still faces many difficulties and shortcomings, especially the facilities in high schools are degraded, substandard, and do not meet teaching and learning requirements.

“Up to now, in Quang Nam, the rate of high schools meeting national standards and quality accreditation is only 18.5% (10/54 schools) compared to the total rate of all levels of education in the province of 61% (445/726 schools).

Therefore, in the coming time, it is necessary to prioritize resources to invest ineducational development, especially investing in building high school facilities in the direction of standardization and modernization to effectively implement the policy of fundamental and comprehensive innovation in education and training," said Mr. Tuong.

According to the project, the goal is to ensure material facilities to implement the 2018 general education program, increase the rate of schools meeting national standards, and strive for the rate of high schools meeting national standards level 2 to reach 60% or more by 2030.

To achieve these goals, the total provincial budget invested 1,222 billion VND for 51 public high schools; of which public investment capital was 955 billion VND and career capital was 267 billion VND.

According to Mr. Tuong, since 2022, implementing the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, the department has developed a project and once included it in the review program of the Provincial People's Council's Culture and Social Committee, but in the end it has not been submitted to the Provincial People's Council.

"I hope this time the Provincial People's Council will have a resolution to pass the project to show the province's concern for education and to address current urgent needs," Mr. Tuong shared.

Nguyen Dinh Tien - Deputy Head of the Culture and Social Committee of the Provincial People's Council acknowledged that the province has invested a lot in the past but resources are limited, so high school classes are not as expected. My personal opinion basically agrees with the policy of issuing the resolution, but at the present time, the province is preparing to merge, so I am very concerned.

“It will be very difficult to implement the policy in a new province. Moreover, not only high school but also other levels of education are still facing difficulties, especially in mountainous areas. There should be a common project for all levels of education from preschool, primary, secondary to high school in the whole province,” Mr. Tien said.

Concerns about resources to implement policies

The representative of the Department of Finance said that the issuance of policies at this time is not favorable. Regarding resources, there is no information yet on how much Quang Nam's medium-term plan is; while there are many constraints on resources in the later stages compared to the previous stages. Therefore, the actual resources allocated for the project do not have a specific number.

Ms. Tran Thi Bich Thu - Head of the Culture - Social Committee of the Provincial People's Council said that the project has entered its third year of construction, and was registered in the meeting agenda but was later not submitted by the Provincial People's Committee.

“I have been to and witnessed many degraded schools and proposed an extraordinary meeting to pass investment resolutions for some schools. Therefore, investing in, upgrading and standardizing high schools is extremely necessary and urgent,” said Ms. Thu.

According to Ms. Thu, the project's goal is to serve the medium-term public investment in the period of 2026 - 2030. The estimated figure of 1,222 billion VND for 55 high schools in 5 years, of which the public investment capital of 955 billion VND is not much. The Department of Culture and Society will report to the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council and hopes that this project will be approved at the 32nd session this June.

Mr. Nguyen Duc - Head of the Economic - Budget Committee of the Provincial People's Council also said that it is time to issue a policy on investment in high school facilities in the province. What many people are concerned about is whether the investment resources are sufficient to implement the project? However, Mr. Duc said that the public investment source of 955 billion VND in 5 years, calculated at less than 200 billion VND per year, is certainly possible to balance.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Cong Thanh affirmed the necessity of developing a project to advise the Provincial People's Council, especially when the reality of educational facilities is still facing many difficulties. Investment resources will continue to be discussed but there is absolutely a basis for implementation.

According to the project, in the next 5 years, a new high school will be established in the eastern part of Dien Ban to serve the learning needs, reducing the overload of Luong The Vinh High School; expanding the area of 5 schools including Phan Boi Chau, Le Quy Don (Tam Ky), Tieu La, Nguyen Thai Binh (Thang Binh), Nong Son (Que Son). In addition, 50 schools all have the need to build more classrooms, functional rooms, and auxiliary works to meet the standardization requirements.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/cap-thiet-chuan-hoa-co-so-vat-chat-truong-thpt-tren-dia-ban-quang-nam-3155774.html