Accelerating investment in schools after merger

Teaching national defense and security education at Tinh Bien High School, Thoi Son Ward. Photo: GIA KHÁNH

According to the Department of Education and Training, one of the highlights is the investment in facilities in a synchronous, solid, and modern direction. The education sector focuses on implementing 5 criteria of the National Standard School Construction Criteria, thereby increasing the rate of qualified schools from more than 40% before the merger to 59.4% at present. The target by the end of 2025 is 60%, exceeding the set target by at least 0.03%, showing the great efforts of the province in standardizing the school network after the arrangement. Not only building new and upgrading, the sector also focuses on renovating the system of classrooms, functional rooms, and subject rooms, meeting the new regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training . This is a mandatory requirement in implementing the 2018 general education program, especially subjects related to practice, experience, STEM/STEAM.

However, the lack of classrooms and the deterioration of facilities are still worrying issues in many educational institutions, especially in urban areas and remote areas. The implementation of 2-session teaching/day in middle and high schools faces many difficulties due to limited land funds, cramped classrooms, and failure to meet the requirements for organizing boarding schools or expanding learning spaces. The demand for investment in educational facilities is still very large, especially in urban areas with rapidly increasing student numbers.

The story of Ly Thuong Kiet Secondary School, Long Xuyen Ward is a clear example. With 2,031 students divided into 45 classes, the school cannot organize 2 sessions/day due to lack of classrooms; the classrooms built before 1975 are now seriously degraded. Ms. Ngo Thi Ngoc Cuc - Principal of Ly Thuong Kiet Secondary School expressed: "Previously, students had to go to the park 200m away from the school to study physical education because the campus was too narrow. From the second semester of the 2024 - 2025 school year, the park was upgraded so it could not be borrowed anymore. Studying outside the park is already difficult in student management, and it is not really suitable for teaching terrain, so we hope that the locality will consider arranging the surplus public land fund after the merger to expand the facilities".

This reality does not only occur at Ly Thuong Kiet Secondary School. According to the assessment of the education sector, the new regulations on the area of regular classrooms, subject classrooms, and functional rooms have all changed and increased compared to the current classrooms and subject rooms; the number of equipment that needs to be equipped according to the standards specified in the circulars of the Ministry of Education and Training is very large. Therefore, a huge amount of money is needed to renovate, expand, and build new ones.

The province is developing a project to increase investment in facilities and teaching equipment for the 2025-2030 period, with priority given to schools in remote areas, remote areas, and ethnic minority areas; teaching 2 sessions/day for all primary schools and qualified middle and high schools; a system of practice classrooms, STEM/STEAM rooms, experiential spaces; modern teaching equipment such as projectors, interactive boards, and standard functional rooms. The province focuses on optimizing the use of public land after the merger to solve the problem of lack of space for schools. This is a fundamental solution to help many urban educational institutions expand, meeting long-term teaching requirements.

Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy affirmed: "The province prioritizes surplus public land for education and health care . Schools need to proactively survey and propose land use plans in accordance with the master plan. Local leaders must acknowledge and promptly resolve difficulties in school facilities in the area." This direction is an important basis for the education sector to remove bottlenecks in school space - a decisive factor for effectively implementing the new general education program.

The period 2025 - 2030 will be an important time for the province to continue to improve the school network, promote the application of technology, improve the quality of teaching and learning, and ensure the right to education of students in all regions and conditions. Today's systematic steps are the foundation for An Giang to build a modern, equitable, and sustainable education system.

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