Hanoi: Prioritizing land fund to relocate headquarters to build public schools

At the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, Hanoi has 2,954 schools at all levels from kindergarten, primary, secondary and high school, meeting the teaching needs of about 2.3 million students. This scale of schools can be said to be very large, however, in some inner-city wards, the rapid population growth rate has not met the learning needs of students.

According to statistics from the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, out of 2,954 schools currently, there are 2,324 public schools. There are 830 preschool schools, 737 primary schools, 622 secondary schools and the least number of high schools is 135.

Tran Phu Primary School, Ha Dong Ward (Hanoi) has a small area, students still have to study at two branches. (Photo: Ha Linh)

By the end of 2024, the rate of schools meeting national standards will be more than 61%. In 2025, with the new recognition and re-recognition of more than 200 schools, the rate of schools meeting national standards across the city will reach 80.6%.

Overall, high school is still the level with the fewest number of schools and the lowest rate of schools meeting national standards among all levels (only about 55%), while preschool has the highest rate of schools meeting standards (up to 82.5%).

There is a serious shortage of public high schools, so the annual 10th grade entrance exam puts a lot of pressure on students, secondary schools and parents. Every year, Hanoi has more than 100,000 students graduating from secondary schools, but the current enrollment target for public 10th grade is only guaranteed at 60-62%, which is a very low number. The main reason is the lack of schools and places to study. There are areas where no new public high schools have been built for many years, leading to the number of schools from kindergarten to high school having a "cone-shaped tower".

The number of students per class exceeds the standard.

The Hanoi Department of Education and Training said that the construction of new schools and classrooms as well as national standard schools in the locality still faces many obstacles and difficulties.

That is, planning a network of schools to ensure standards in inner-city wards is very difficult because of the lack of land to build new schools, the land area is not large enough to build functional rooms, playgrounds, etc. Meanwhile, the national technical standards on construction planning, which include the area for each level of education, state: preschool level 12 square meters/child; general education level 10 square meters/student. "With that regulation, Hanoi's review shows that many schools are currently facing difficulties in ensuring enough area to build schools," according to the Hanoi Department of Education and Training.

In fact, schools in Hoan Kiem district (old) have small classrooms and limited space, and no playground for students to participate in collective activities, flag salutes, or physical exercises. Even some newly built schools are still on the old land area, which is quite limited.

In particular, at the primary and secondary levels, there are still many schools with a number of students per class that far exceeds the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training . Many schools have a number of students per class exceeding 50 students per class and a size of 40-50 classes per school. In areas with "hot" enrollment at the beginning of the school year, there are still classes with a number of nearly 60 students. While the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training require primary schools to have 35 students per class; secondary and high schools have 45 students per class. This affects the quality of teaching and puts pressure on teachers.

Mr. Tran The Cuong, Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, shared that, in response to that reality, the Hanoi People's Committee has had solutions and instructions to overcome difficulties and obstacles, and speed up the construction of schools that meet national standards.

That is, the City has directed sectors, wards and communes to urgently complete construction investment projects, clear land, and speed up construction progress to soon hand over the works.

Strengthen inspection of units that are slow in disbursing funds, consider the responsibility of organizations and individuals that obstruct, cause difficulties, and slow down the progress of school and classroom construction.

The city also continues to direct the priority of land funds, especially land funds after relocating agency headquarters and factories to supplement new construction, expansion and renovation into public schools to ensure enough classrooms and functional rooms according to regulations.

Assign the People's Committees of wards and communes to continue to proactively allocate students appropriately among schools in the area, focusing on reducing the number of students per class to improve teaching quality and increase the rate of schools meeting national standards.

This year, Hanoi recognized 58 schools as meeting national standards and re-accredited 161 schools, bringing the total number of schools meeting standards to 80.6%. In addition, there are still many schools with degraded facilities and high student numbers per class.