Brand new school but no students: Tens of billions of dong wasted

The Vo Van Kiet Primary School, Huong Duong Kindergarten, and the Buu 2 Hamlet Cultural House (Dong Hai Commune, Ca Mau Province) are built next to each other. Located in the Residential and Resettlement Project for people moving out of the coastal protection forest of Bac Lieu Province (old), with a total investment of 50 billion VND, to be built and completed in 2022.

Vo Van Kiet Primary School was invested in and built well but was abandoned for many years.

In particular, Vo Van Kiet Primary School is built with two blocks, designed with 1 ground floor and 1 upper floor, with an area of about 3,700m². The project has a multi-purpose school building and a headmaster building.

Huong Duong Kindergarten is built with two blocks, one floor design, with 4 classrooms and 1 multi-purpose house, total area of about 3,500m².

The cultural house and water supply station have a total area of about 1,500m², of which the cultural house is 216m², the station and water supply system are 300m², the rest is the campus.

The total construction cost of the above 3 projects is about 25 billion VND.

Around the school, grass grows wildly and some items begin to deteriorate.

Although newly built and spacious, nearly 3 years after completion, all three buildings have not been put into use. Grass has grown wild around them, some items have begun to deteriorate, while furniture inside has been stolen. The school has also stopped recruiting students.

People said they do not send their children here to study because the school is built far from the residential area (about 4km), the surrounding area is mainly shrimp ponds, the roads are difficult to travel, and parents do not feel secure sending their children to school.

“After it was completed, it was abandoned and overgrown with weeds. Many times the government tried to send students to study there but no one was willing. The school was abandoned and all the furniture was stolen. Everyone here feels it is a waste, while many poor people have no place to live,” said Mr. Huynh Van Quoc (residing in Buu 2 hamlet). People see the school as far away, surrounded by rivers and canals, and when the water rises, it can be dangerous.

The total construction cost of the three projects is about 25 billion VND.

A leader of the People's Committee of Dong Hai commune said that the commune has submitted a document to the Provincial People's Committee requesting to convert the functions of the entire two schools and the Cultural House of Buu 2 hamlet into a commune administrative center, such as the headquarters of the Party Committee, People's Committee and agencies serving the people.

According to the leader of Dong Hai commune, the classrooms and infrastructure are still good. If they continue to be abandoned, they will deteriorate and when they need to be used, more money will be spent on repairs.