The problem of the number of students per class exceeding the regulation is difficult to solve.

TP - The number of students per class exceeding the standard puts pressure on teachers and affects the quality of teaching. This is a problem that makes many schools in Hanoi have to find a solution.

A crowded classroom in Hanoi

Nearly 60 students/class

A parent whose child is in grade 7 at a school in the inner city of Hanoi said that the number of students per class from grade 6 to now has fluctuated from 57 to 59. Students are at the age of development, desks and chairs are placed close together, making it difficult to move around the classroom. "When I went to a parent-teacher meeting for my child, I saw that the first desk was placed close to the teacher's desk, and the board was facing up. A cramped, stuffy classroom will affect their psychology and learning outcomes," said this parent.

In the 2025-2026 school year, Dong Da Secondary School will enroll 707 sixth-grade students, divided into 14 classes, with an average of 50.5 students per class. Ms. Dao Thi Hong Hanh, Principal of the school, said that the school cannot yet implement two-session teaching per day because the facilities are not yet adequate. The division of classes depends on the teaching staff and the number of classes. Last year, only more than 600 ninth-grade students graduated from the school, lower than the number of students admitted.

Similarly, Dai Kim Secondary School in Dinh Cong Ward currently has 2,900 students from grades 6 to 9. With great effort, this school has organized 2 sessions/day, however, due to lack of classrooms, students have to take turns taking 1 day off during the week and studying all day on Saturday, causing difficulties and pressure for students. To arrange enough seats for more than 50 students/class, Dai Kim Secondary School's solution is to "custom-design" 1.5 meter long tables for 3 students, instead of 1.2 meter long tables for 2 students as prescribed. Fortunately, the school is newly built, the classrooms are quite large so 24 desks can be arranged in each room.

Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Ha, Principal of Dai Kim Secondary School, said that the average number of students per class is about 50, with the highest class having 55 students. Since its establishment in 2020, the school has only had 1,500 students. After 5 years of operation, the number of students has nearly doubled. Ms. Ha pointed out the reason: there are many high-rise apartment buildings in the area, and the mechanical population is increasing rapidly. In fact, there are 2 primary schools: Dai Kim Primary School and Dai Tu Primary School, both of which are in the secondary school's enrollment route, so each year the number of 6th graders increases by 300 students. The rapid increase in the number of students puts pressure on the school, the class, and the number of students is inevitable, the school also has to "run after" to worry about the lack of teachers. "This year, we have just been assigned enough staff, but next year the number of students increases and there will be a shortage, so we have to sign a contract," Ms. Ha said.

Before enrolling students for the new school year, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training requires schools to implement solutions to improve school and classroom facilities, reduce the number of students who are not in their designated areas, reduce the number of students per class, and increase the number of students who study two sessions per day, avoiding the situation where some schools enroll more than their quota, while others do not enroll enough students, causing waste of facilities and staff, creating frustration among the people and public opinion.

Teachers under pressure

Ms. Thanh Ha said that the Ministry of Education and Training stipulates that at the secondary level, each class has 45 students. In reality, if the class is larger, the teachers will be tired and will not have much time to pay attention to each student. Previously, the school had repeatedly requested the ward People's Committee to build a new secondary school to separate students, reduce the number of students, and spread the number of students to the lowest level. It is known that the ward also has a plan to clear the land to build a new school.

Ms. K, who used to be the principal of a primary school in Hoang Mai district (old), said that there was a time when the number of primary school students reached 57-58 students per class while the regulation of the Ministry of Education and Training for primary school is 35 students. This led to great difficulties and hardships for both students, teachers and administrators. For students, desks and chairs were packed tightly in the aisles, even two rows of desks were placed close together, leaving no space to run and jump, the first row of desks was placed close to the teacher's desk, affecting eyesight. Not to mention, the school has nearly 3,000 students, the number of restrooms is limited, so even if the cleaning team was mobilized to clean regularly, it would not be enough. For teachers, it was very difficult to teach classes with too many students, making it difficult to observe, care for, and grasp the strengths of each student and each group of abilities as required.

Mr. Dao Tan Ly, Head of the Primary Education Department (Hanoi Department of Education and Training) said that this school year, the city has 1,000 fewer primary school students than last year. However, there is still a shortage of schools and classes in some places such as Thanh Liet Ward, Vinh Hung Ward, Dinh Cong Ward... "Hanoi's solution in the coming time is to continue reviewing and building new schools to reduce pressure and expand student numbers," Mr. Ly said.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/nan-giai-bai-toan-si-so-hoc-sinhlop-vuot-quy-dinh-post1777414.tpo