How should high schools be merged?

The Ministry of Education and Training has sent a document to provincial People's Committees providing guidance on the rearrangement and reorganization of the network of preschool, primary, secondary, and continuing education institutions to suit the local government at both levels.

Bach Long Vi Primary School, Hai Phong City - Photo: MINH DONG

Speaking to Tuoi Tre newspaper , National Assembly delegate Nguyen Thi Viet Nga, a member of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Society, stated that the restructuring and reorganization of the network of general education institutions is a major policy of the Party and the State aimed at building a streamlined, efficient education system that ensures quality and is suitable to practical conditions.

This is a strategically important task, linked to the requirements for fundamental and comprehensive reform of education and training in the current period.

Most importantly, every decision regarding the school network structure must be student-centered.

Representative Nguyen Thi Viet Nga

We must focus on the learner.

According to Ms. Nga, in reality, over the past period of development, the network of schools and classrooms has expanded significantly, making an important contribution to raising the intellectual level of the population, training human resources, and serving socio-economic development.

However, along with urbanization, migration, population changes, and shifts in population distribution, many problems have arisen. Specifically, some areas have an excess of schools while others have a shortage; many schools are small in scale and have dilapidated facilities, while urban areas are overcrowded with students and have limited land.

Given this reality, reviewing, planning, and reorganizing the network of general education institutions to effectively utilize resources, ensure educational quality, and meet the requirements of sustainable development is absolutely necessary. However, this process must be carried out cautiously and scientifically, placing the interests of students and teachers at the center.

Ms. Nga stated that the guidance document from the Ministry of Education and Training clearly outlines the basic principles and specific directions, and localities should base their plans on this document to develop appropriate restructuring schemes.

The most fundamental principle is that it must not affect teaching and learning. At the same time, it should not be applied mechanically, nor should it be driven by administrative targets; instead, it must stem from the goal of best serving the educational interests of the people and must be carefully considered.

Ensure that students can continue to study in the most favorable conditions, without having to travel long distances to school, without increasing class sizes, and without disrupting the teaching staff.

"The most important thing is that all decisions in the arrangement of the school network must be student-centered. Students must be guaranteed the right to study in a safe and conducive environment, access to quality education programs, a team of competent teachers, and facilities that meet the requirements of reforming general education. This is a consistent requirement, reflecting the humanistic nature and stability of education policy," Ms. Nga stated.

Thorough investigation and survey

Regarding implementation solutions, Ms. Nguyen Thi Viet Nga suggested that the restructuring should be carried out based on thorough investigation and survey of the current situation regarding student numbers, facilities, staff, and geographical conditions.

Local authorities need to develop comprehensive plans with clear roadmaps, and coordinate closely with relevant sectors such as finance, agriculture and environment, and construction to ensure consistency and feasibility.

For urban and densely populated areas, the appropriate approach is to increase the scale of standard schools, invest in infrastructure, reduce the number of small, scattered schools, and enhance the application of information technology and digital transformation in management and teaching.

Conversely, in remote and particularly disadvantaged areas, flexible policies are needed. Specifically, maintaining school locations in a rational manner and organizing multi-level general education schools in sparsely populated areas should be prioritized to ensure students do not have to travel long distances to school, especially for primary school.

In particular, the restructuring process must be linked to policies supporting affected groups, such as students in relocated areas, redundant teachers, and unused facilities. The reallocation and reuse of public assets must comply with regulations, avoiding waste and loss.

Reorganizing the school network is a necessary step in the process of reforming state management of education, contributing to improving the efficiency of resource utilization, enhancing teaching and learning conditions, and moving towards a fair, high-quality, and sustainable education system.

However, the success of this process is not only measured by the number of schools merged or the reduction in administrative layers, but more importantly, by ensuring that all students receive a better and more convenient education.

That is the highest criterion, the measure of correctness, humanity, and appropriateness in the process of reorganizing the network of general education schools - a task that is both urgent and long-term, requiring political determination, social consensus, and a high sense of responsibility from the entire education sector.

Students in the border region of Buon Don, Dak Lak, go to school - Photo: TAM AN

Non-mechanical

Former Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Culture, Education, Youth, and Children (now the Committee on Culture and Society), Le Nhu Tien, also assessed that the restructuring of the network of general education schools in particular and educational and training institutions nationwide in general is necessary. He stated that the restructuring of ministries, agencies, and provinces in recent times is a valuable lesson that can be applied to the restructuring of the education sector.

According to Mr. Tien, it is necessary to affirm that the restructuring of the entire network of educational institutions, especially general education, must clearly define the perspective so that every locality and region is fully covered with all levels of education and classes, ensuring the right to education for every student and citizen.

At the same time, this arrangement should not be done mechanically but must be based on factors such as population, student-to-teacher ratio, administrative units, etc.

Furthermore, it is also necessary to consider whether the teaching staff system can fully meet the requirements of the arrangement. In this case, if the training needs are high, an administrative unit may have many schools, while in smaller administrative units with fewer students, the arrangement needs to be appropriate.

He argued that the newly issued guidelines from the Ministry of Education and Training clearly outline the principles and specific arrangements so that localities can base their actions on them accordingly, ensuring that the requirements and objectives are met.

He expressed agreement with the ministry's guidelines, which clearly stated that preschools should not be merged with primary and secondary schools; nor should primary and secondary schools be merged with continuing education institutions.

"Merging preschools with primary and secondary schools would be illogical. Preschool children are a completely different group, requiring special education unlike that of primary, secondary, or high school students."

Similarly, vocational and continuing education centers are currently multi-functional units, providing both vocational training and continuing education services such as literacy programs, adult education, awarding high school diplomas to adults, and organizing community education programs. Therefore, merging them with general schools would be completely inappropriate," Mr. Tien stated.

Improving the quality of education

Another point raised by Mr. Le Nhu Tien is that the restructuring must improve the quality of education and training, not degrade it or create inconsistencies between classes and grade levels. He also emphasized that restructuring for secondary schools is necessary and appropriate at this time, but it's crucial to recognize that it shouldn't be a matter of issuing a document or decision and implementing it immediately; a suitable roadmap is needed.

Mergers: Challenges to overcome

Students of Tran Huy Lieu Secondary School, Duc Nhuan Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, during a flag-raising ceremony - Photo: TRI DUC

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, after the merger of provincial administrative boundaries, the scale and number of educational institutions in each province have increased significantly.

On average, each province has over 1,000 public preschool, primary, secondary, and vocational education institutions, not including thousands of independent and private educational centers and facilities.

Immediately after the restructuring of the two-tiered government system, many Departments of Education and Training reviewed their school networks. Initially, some provinces implemented the merger of schools and school branches within the same commune or ward. Simultaneously, priority was given to building new schools in densely populated areas with high rates of urbanization.

However, feedback from localities to the Ministry of Education and Training indicates that the merger faces difficulties in ethnic minority and mountainous areas due to complex terrain and the already long travel distances for students to school in some places, making the merger a hindrance to students.

In urban areas lacking land for new school construction, lengthy investment procedures delay the progress of new school construction, while there is a lack of public consensus on the policy of merging schools and transferring students from one area to another.

The increase in the number of educational institutions after mergers has led to many shortcomings in management and professional coordination between the Department of Education and Training and the schools, as the intermediate level of the Education and Training Department no longer exists, there is a shortage of education staff at the commune level, and many people lack educational expertise.

Many localities are still in the process of reviewing the situation, and some have only just begun merging smaller school branches into main schools.

Hanoi and Thanh Hoa are localities that have retained their administrative boundaries as before the implementation of the two-tiered government system, but they are also places with a very large number of educational institutions.

Specifically, Hanoi has nearly 3,000 preschool and primary/secondary schools, of which over 2,300 are public schools. Thanh Hoa has over 2,000 preschool and primary/secondary schools, of which over 1,850 are public schools.

Some provinces, such as Bac Ninh, have seen a surge in the number of educational institutions after mergers. According to Mr. Bach Dang Khoa, deputy director of the Department of Education and Training, the current number of educational institutions is over 1,200 (previously, the old Bac Giang had over 760 institutions, and the old Bac Ninh had over 460 institutions).

According to Nguyen Ngoc Ha, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Hung Yen province, there are currently over 1,200 preschool and primary/secondary schools. Before the provincial merger, Hung Yen had only 480 schools and Thai Binh had 736.

The Ministry of Education and Training's perspective in the new context is to continue reviewing and merging schools and school branches, reducing the number of educational institutions in each province to streamline the management apparatus, concentrate resources (facilities, teachers) for each educational institution, and improve the quality of education.

THANH CHUNG - VINH HA

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/sap-nhap-cac-truong-pho-thong-ra-sao-20251006225703607.htm