Proposal to invest 37,000 billion VND to build 100 schools in border areas

In less than a year, 100 border schools will have to be completed to be put into use from the 2026–2027 school year.

At the meeting to implement the Politburo’s Conclusion and General Secretary To Lam’s direction on the policy of investing in building schools for border communes held on the afternoon of July 27, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) affirmed the feasibility of the plan if there is strong coordination between ministries, sectors and localities – in which each side needs to play a clear role in policy design and implementation.

100 border schools will have to be completed to be put into use from the 2026-2027 school year. Illustrative photo

Current situation and investment orientation of schools in border areas

According to Deputy Minister of Education and Training Le Tan Dung, there are currently 22 provinces and cities with land border communes, with 248 communes and 956 general schools, serving more than 625,000 students. However, only about 1.2% of students are able to study in boarding schools, while the demand is up to more than 332,000 students, most of whom have not been met. The lack of facilities - from classrooms, dormitories to dining halls, and public housing - is directly affecting the stable learning opportunities of students in border areas.

To overcome this, the Ministry of Education and Training proposed a two-phase investment program, in the spirit of Notice 81 of the Politburo :

Phase 1 (2025): Build or renovate 100 schools, in time to put into use from the 2026–2027 school year.

Phase 2 (2026–2027): Expand to all 248 schools in border communes.

The total investment capital is expected to be about 37,000 billion VND, mainly from the central budget, combined with local and socialized sources. Investment will be flexible according to each locality: building new schools where there is suitable land, or renovating existing schools, taking advantage of administrative headquarters after the merger.

Three groups of solutions proposed by the Ministry of Education and Training include:

Firstly , review and complete current policies related to the organization of schools in border areas, build a model of inter-level boarding schools and mechanisms to attract and retain teachers through support for public housing and allowances.

Second , closely coordinate with ministries, branches and localities in investment and construction work, adjusting land use planning, and architectural design suitable to the characteristics of each region such as mountainous areas, the Central Highlands or plains.

Third , mobilize widespread social participation through the movement "The whole country for the beloved border", aiming to attract resources from businesses, organizations, and individuals to join hands with the State to build a solid, modern school system in areas with many difficulties.

Minister Nguyen Kim Son has made specific recommendations to ensure the progress and feasibility of the plan to build 100 schools in border areas - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Based on the current situation report and proposals of Deputy Minister Le Tan Dung, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son made specific recommendations to ensure the progress and feasibility of the plan to build 100 schools in border areas.

The Minister proposed that the Prime Minister set a specific deadline: no later than August 30, the budget must be allocated to localities. To ensure progress, provinces and cities need to complete all documents, design plans, scale and construction locations of schools in the first week of August, and send them to the Ministry of Education and Training as a basis for transferring to the Ministry of Finance for budget appraisal.

School design: No stereotypes, flexible according to terrain

Expressing agreement with the Ministry of Construction, Minister Nguyen Kim Son emphasized that school construction needs to ensure minimum criteria, but avoid stereotypical designs.

"We only provide criteria, requirements and some suggested designs as samples. Localities can be flexible - it can be on a flat surface, curved according to the terrain, or use concrete stilt houses for students to live in," said the Minister.

In reality, schools can be built on flat ground, according to the terrain, or built on 1-2 storey concrete stilt houses. The Minister added that the standard area for a boarding school for 1,000 students is about 5 hectares, and if it is 10 hectares, it would be even better.

According to the guidance from Notice 81, in September 2025, each province will register about 2-3 schools to start construction. Thus, the whole country can simultaneously start construction of 30 to 40 schools this month.

The remaining schools will start construction from October to the end of December, depending on the level of preparation of each locality. Minister Nguyen Kim Son especially emphasized that the most reasonable "drop point" for completion is in the summer of 2026 - a time that does not interrupt the school year and is convenient for reorganizing the entire school system, arranging students from many schools to the central school.

According to Minister Nguyen Kim Son, building schools is something that people are very supportive of, so it is necessary to launch a widespread land donation movement - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Local roles: From premises to school operations

The head of the education sector affirmed the key role of localities in preparing land and mobilizing people to donate land to build schools.

Evidence from Dien Bien province shows clear initiative: this locality has prepared three plots of land, each 10 hectares wide, organized effective mass mobilization, created high consensus among the people and is ready to start construction early.

According to the Minister, building schools is something that people are very supportive of, so it is necessary to launch a widespread land donation movement, with the active participation of the Fatherland Front and the political system at the grassroots level.

He also noted that building a new school is not simply replacing an existing school, but is an opportunity to restructure the entire education system at the commune level. Currently, many communes have 17-20 small, scattered schools; when completed, the central school will gather students from these schools to study centrally, while a number of separate schools will be dissolved to improve operational efficiency.

Minister Nguyen Kim Son said that he is not too concerned about the teaching staff, because in reality, many teachers wish to teach in border areas due to preferential allowances and special working conditions.

The shortage of teachers mainly occurs in some new subjects according to the 2018 General Education Program, requiring appropriate training and supplementary plans.

The school organization model is determined to be a combination of boarding and semi-boarding: primary school students living near their homes will still study at existing schools; students living far away or near the new school construction area will study at the central school, in the form of semi-boarding or boarding depending on specific conditions.

This requires flexibility in arranging personnel, classrooms and facilities. Regarding construction organization, he proposed classifying according to the level of difficulty: for schools in areas that are particularly difficult to construct, such as remote areas, the military and police can be assigned to take charge; for more favorable areas, localities can proactively choose appropriate civilian units to implement. All of this is to ensure progress while still being suitable for the characteristics of each area.

Regarding the work of the Ministry of Education and Training, Minister Nguyen Kim Son said that the Ministry will proactively calculate the operating model of new schools, from professional structure, teaching staff to operating mechanism and specific related costs.

These contents will be summarized in a detailed report sent to the Prime Minister to ensure synchronous and unified implementation from the central to local levels. The Minister emphasized the guiding principle throughout: must be "hard" in terms of goals, progress, and requirements for mandatory items, but "soft" in the way of doing things - flexible in terms of design, scale, organizational model, and implementation methods. He expressed his belief that if all parties join in resolutely from August and funding is allocated promptly, the completion of 100 schools in border areas is completely feasible.

Source: https://baohatinh.vn/de-xuat-dau-tu-37000-ty-dong-xay-100-truong-hoc-vung-bien-post292621.html