BORDER SCHOOL - 'Common home' is still cramped (Part 1)

General Secretary To Lam affirmed: "Building schools is not only to provide children with better learning conditions, but also aims at the long-term goal of improving the quality of life of people in border areas..."

Boarding schools find it difficult to carry out the "boarding" function.

Muong Leo is a particularly difficult border commune of Son La province. Although it has not merged with other communes, Muong Leo has a natural area of more than 37,575 hectares, while the population is not large. The whole commune currently has 780 households, with 5 ethnic groups: Thai, Mong, Kho Mu, Lao, Kinh, living in 13 villages.

In the context of many socio - economic difficulties, the State budget is the main resource for investment in education in Muong Leo. Because there is no boarding school for ethnic minorities, for many years now, the Muong Leo Primary and Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities has been the "common home" for children of ethnic minorities in the area.

Teachers of Muong Leo Ethnic Minority Primary and Secondary School, Son La province welcome first grade students at the opening ceremony of the 2025-2026 school year - Photo: Muong Leo School

According to Mr. Lo Van Thu, Acting Principal of Muong Leo Primary and Secondary School, the school has an average size of over 800 students from grade 1 to grade 9 each year. The commune is large, the population is scattered, and the school facilities are not yet adequate, so in addition to the main school in Lieng village, the school is still maintaining 5 satellite schools; the nearest school is about 10km away, the farthest is up to 30km away.

"Traffic is difficult, so first and second graders in villages far from the center will be arranged to study at separate locations. From third grade onwards, students will return to the main boarding school," said Mr. Thu.

According to Mr. Thu, the implementation of clustering individual locations and arranging for students to study at the central location has led to a large demand for boarding activities, but the school's boarding quota has not been met. In the 2025-2026 school year, the school has 880 students, of which 577 are boarding students; in the 2024-2025 school year, there are 836 students, of which 538 are boarding students.

With an average of about 300 students/school year not benefiting from the boarding policy, it is really a barrier to the education career in the poor commune of Muong Leo. Currently, the average income per capita of the commune, although increased by 17.1 million VND compared to 2020, has only reached 27.6 million VND/person/year; the rate of poor households still accounts for 43.04% of the total number of households, not including near-poor households.

Students of all levels at Muong Leo Ethnic Minority Primary and Secondary School, Son La province, opened the 2025-2026 school year - Photo: Muong Leo School

Not only in Muong Leo of Son La province but also in many border communes across the country, because there is no ethnic minority school, ethnic minority schools must perform boarding functions. However, the operating regulations, mechanisms and policies of ethnic minority schools are different from those of ethnic minority schools, which has affected the activities of the schools as well as the rights of students who are beneficiaries of boarding policies.

According to the report of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), implementing Decree No. 66/2025/ND-CP (replacing Decree No. 116/2016/ND-CP), students at both ethnic minority and minority schools are allowed to study, live and work at school and enjoy the State's learning support policies, but at different rates. Accordingly, the average budget is about 23 million VND/school year for a student at an ethnic minority school, while at a minority school it is only about 16 million VND/student/school year.

A class at Muong Leo Primary and Secondary School, Son La province - Photo: Muong Leo School

Not strong enough for dreams to fly far

According to a report by the Ministry of Education and Training, in 248 land border communes after the rearrangement, there are currently about 625,255 students studying at 956 general schools; of which 332,019 students have boarding and semi-boarding needs, accounting for 53.1% of the total number of students.

However, these 248 communes currently have only about 160 DTBT high schools (accounting for about 16.7% of the total number of schools). These schools only meet the boarding needs of 51,131 students (accounting for about 8.18% of the total number of high school students in the land border communes.

In addition, in 248 communes, there are currently 22 ethnic minority high schools, with a scale of 7,644 students; accounting for only 2.3% of the total number of schools and 1.2% of the number of high school students in the area.

Including both types of schools, the border area on land currently has only nearly 59,000 students receiving boarding and semi-boarding; which means there are still about 273,000 students who need but do not receive boarding and semi-boarding, and still have to travel back and forth on bumpy roads every day to go to school, nurturing their dreams of knowledge.

According to the results of the Third Socio-Economic Information Survey of 53 Ethnic Minorities (announced by the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religions in July 2025), the average distance from home to school for ethnic minority students in border areas at primary level is 2.6 km, and at secondary level is 4.7 km, higher than the average of 53 ethnic minorities. The distance from home to school is too far, limiting ethnic minority students' access to public educational service providers.

It is also worth noting that in most of the border communes on the mainland, there are no ethnic minority secondary schools, and the ethnic minority secondary schools are invested in only to perform the function of boarding. Many schools, which were only designed to "keep" students during school hours, have had to "take on" the function of boarding in the context of physical facilities that are both lacking in quantity and weak in quality.

Boarding room of students of Muong Leo Ethnic Minority Primary and Secondary School, Son La province - Photo: Muong Leo School

Returning to Muong Leo Primary and Secondary School, Son La province, we can see this more clearly. According to Report No. 208/BC-BTTH&THCSML dated May 23, 2025, the school currently has 47 classrooms; of which 22 are solid and 25 are semi-solid. The School Council room is taking advantage of the primary school cafeteria after the merger; there are no functional rooms or subject classrooms yet.

In particular, the school is seriously lacking in facilities for boarding. Currently, the school has 577 boarding students, but only 28 rooms for students, an average of 20.6 students/room; the dining room and kitchen also only have 2 rooms.

The whole school has 55 staff and teachers, but only has 19 public service rooms, of which 4 are borrowed from students. The water system for boarding and school activities is not stable, and there is no clean water system as prescribed.

Pursuant to Notice No. 81-TB/TW dated July 18, 2025 of the Politburo, Son La province has proposed to build 13 inter-level boarding schools for primary and secondary schools in 13 border communes, including: Muong Leo, Sop Cop, Muong Lan, Chieng Khoong, Muong Hung, Chieng Khuong, Phieng Pan, Yen Son, Phieng Khoai, Long Phieng, Long Sap, Chieng Son, Xuan Nha. Of which, 11 new schools will be built; 2 schools will be renovated and upgraded; the total capital requirement is 2,696 billion VND.

This is also the reality in most ethnic minority secondary schools in the border areas on the mainland. According to the report of the Ministry of Education and Training, the material and technical conditions of secondary schools in 248 border communes on the mainland are still very difficult, seriously lacking, and difficult to ensure the services for studying, boarding and semi-boarding for students.

In particular, the rate of solidified classrooms in border areas is the lowest in the country; there are still many temporary classrooms, borrowed classrooms, bamboo and thatch classrooms. Many subject classrooms and items serving boarding and semi-boarding activities of students do not exist or exist but the quality compared to the prescribed standards is very low.

Faced with that situation, the Politburo agreed on the policy of investing in the construction of inter-level boarding schools for primary and secondary schools in 248 land border communes in Notice No. 81-TB/TW dated July 18, 2025. This is a timely, humane and strategic decision, a methodical step taken early and from afar to serve the development of ethnic minority human resources, meeting the requirements of socio-economic development, ensuring national defense and security in the new situation.

At the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of Si Pa Phin Commune Primary and Secondary School, Dien Bien Province on July 27, 2025, General Secretary To Lam affirmed: "Building schools is not only to provide children with better learning conditions, but also to aim at the long-term goal of improving the quality of life of people in border areas, contributing to preserving national territorial sovereignty from the root, which is people, communities attached to the land, to the forest, to the border and landmarks".

According to a survey by the Ministry of Education and Training, to ensure learning and living conditions for students in the border areas on land, it is necessary to invest in additional 6,116 theoretical classrooms and 6,692 subject rooms; 7,982 student dormitories; 765 kitchens; 706 kitchen storages; 843 dining rooms; 976 student management rooms; 791 common rooms; 656 cultural houses; and 3,413 official accommodation rooms for teachers.

Source: https://baolangson.vn/truong-hoc-vung-bien-ngoi-nha-chung-van-con-chat-hep-bai-1-5059721.html