Son La focuses on building schools in border areas

A working delegation from Son La province inspected the construction of schools in border communes.

Central government policies combined with urgent actions by local authorities are turning the dream of modern, spacious boarding schools into reality. This is not only an investment in education but also a strategy to contribute to building a strong border region.

Son La has more than 274 km of border with the Lao People's Democratic Republic. After the administrative merger, Son La province has 13 border communes. There are currently 45 general schools with 37,339 students, of which ethnic minority students account for a very high proportion. Although 73% of schools have met national standards, the rate of boarding students is still low, causing many obstacles to the care, education and improvement of the quality of local human resources.

Faced with this situation, on July 18, 2025, the Politburo issued Notice No. 81-TB/TW, officially approving the investment policy to build a system of primary and secondary boarding schools in 248 border communes across the country. Son La province alone will build 13 new schools; each school will have an area of 3 to 5 hectares, meeting the learning, accommodation and living needs of more than 1,000 students and teachers.

Immediately after the policy was issued, Son La proactively and urgently took action. In the immediate future, the province organized a thematic conference and established working groups led by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee to conduct field surveys in 13 border communes. In particular, determining the location of the school construction is considered a key step to ensure the progress and quality of the project. Chairman of the Son La Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Dinh Viet said: "This is a golden opportunity to help education in the Son La border area make a breakthrough. Boarding schools will not only be a place to study but also a second home, where children of ethnic minorities are cared for both physically and mentally in a modern and fully equipped environment."

Implementing the Politburo's policy, Son La province has proposed to build 12 new schools and upgrade one school with a total investment of about 1,880 billion VND. In addition, the province also proposed to add 3,678 teacher positions for the whole province and 100 positions for 13 new schools.

Chairman of the People's Committee of Chieng Khoong Commune, Nguyen Van Dong, shared: “The commune has nearly 5,000 primary and secondary school students, of which more than 1,400 are semi-boarders. With great determination, the commune has proposed to build an inter-level boarding school in Le village, the new socio-economic center of the commune. This is a policy that has received consensus and high support from local people.”

In Long Phieng, a particularly disadvantaged commune bordering Laos, the commune leaders also quickly surveyed and proposed to build a boarding school on flat rice fields with convenient technical infrastructure. Secretary of the commune Party Committee Vi Tuan Bao said: “We hope that the school will soon be built so that students in the border area can study in the best conditions ever. The commune has proposed that the province build a new school with an area of about 5 hectares on the commune’s rice fields.”

It is expected that by 2025, the whole country will complete 100 model schools, then continue to expand to 248 schools in the next two to three years. In Son La, the determination and aspiration are clearly demonstrated through specific, practical and effective actions from the direction of the provincial leaders to the focus on implementation solutions of departments and branches in 13 border communes. "The policy of building boarding schools in border areas does not simply solve the problem of education, but is also an important link in the national defense strategy. A generation of ethnic minority students will be fully educated, mature, and return to build their homeland. This is a solid foundation to keep the land, keep the people and stabilize the long-term border of the Fatherland", Chairman of the People's Committee of Son La province Nguyen Dinh Viet shared ■

Article and photos: QUOC TUAN

Source: https://nhandan.vn/son-la-tap-trung-xay-truong-hoc-vung-bien-gioi-post902936.html