Students at Trung Trac Primary School, District 11, during their school lunch break.
This afternoon, August 14th, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training held a conference to summarize the 2023-2024 school year and implement tasks for the 2024-2025 school year. At the conference, Mr. Nguyen Minh Thien Hoang, Deputy Head of the Primary Education Department, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, stated that in the 2023-2024 school year, Ho Chi Minh City had 561 primary schools and multi-level schools with primary school levels (including public and private schools), of which 522 were public primary schools. The entire city had 17,382 classrooms, an increase of 130 classrooms compared to the previous school year.
In recent times, the facilities and teaching equipment at primary schools in Ho Chi Minh City have been enhanced to meet the requirements of the 2018 General Education Program. Basically, schools have purchased enough minimum teaching equipment, ensuring smooth operation of educational activities.
The ratio of classrooms to classes is 0.96. The entire city has 910 computer labs for teaching computer science, with a total of 33,867 computers.
The number of computer labs throughout the area is basically sufficient for teaching computer science to 3rd and 4th graders. Some schools lacking computers have implemented flexible solutions to ensure 100% of 3rd and 4th graders can learn computer science, and to organize computer science classes for other grade levels as well.
In the 2023-2024 school year, the entire city had 637,008 primary school students (a decrease of 25,926 compared to the same period last year). Notably, 502,200 primary school students attended school for two sessions per day, accounting for 78.8% (an increase of 4% compared to the same period last year). Out of a total of 17,382 classes, 14,362 had classes for two sessions per day, representing 82.6% (an increase of 1.9% compared to the same period last year).
Students from Tran Hung Dao Primary School, District 1, participating in an extracurricular activity in the schoolyard.
Districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, Phu Nhuan and Can Gio and Nha Be districts have a 100% rate of students attending school for two sessions per day. In the past school year, the average number of students per primary school class was 36.6 (a decrease of 1.8 students per class compared to the 2022-2023 school year).
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training acknowledges that the city has always prioritized investment in education, completing the school network, enhancing advanced and modern teaching and learning support equipment; gradually reducing class sizes and increasing the percentage of students attending two sessions per day. However, the 2023-2024 school year still faces some challenges in primary education, such as the insufficient ratio of one classroom per class; the city's two-session-per-day rate not yet reaching 100%; and some schools lacking functional rooms. Some schools still have excessively large class sizes, affecting the quality of learning.
The reasons for this situation are the pressure of increasing population due to migration, high population density, and insufficient classrooms. Schools lack teachers because there are no applicants, especially for subject-specific teachers. Schools have to hire contract or visiting lecturers to ensure enough teachers to teach classes…
"Running Class," a digital learning class in Ho Chi Minh City.
What are the solutions to the above problems? The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training stated that the implementation of the education plan and school construction is progressing well, ensuring the target of 300 classrooms per 10,000 people of school age (3 to 18 years old) is met by 2025. Ho Chi Minh City is developing a project for 4,500 new classrooms with the goal of completion by 2025, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of national reunification.
Students at Dinh Tien Hoang Primary School, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, are having an open lesson, inviting parents into the classroom to study with their children.
Some Departments of Education and Training have advised leaders at various levels to expedite land clearance and the construction of primary schools (such as in Binh Chanh District). Some schools lack functional rooms, and some schools teach subjects like English, art, and music directly in the classrooms. Schools with auditoriums can utilize them as art rooms.
Recently, depending on the actual conditions, schools have arranged for students to attend classes outside of regular school hours. At the same time, some Education and Training Departments have directed schools to implement a "flexible class" plan to create opportunities for students to attend two sessions per day, as in Go Vap District… Ho Chi Minh City has also implemented a combined class at the Thieng Lieng facility of Thanh An Primary School (Thanh An island commune, Can Gio District) with 12 students, including 4 fourth-grade students and 8 fifth-grade students.
In addition, the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Digital Transformation Support and Consulting, in coordination with the Department of Education and Training, has supported the development of digital classroom models at Thanh An Primary School in Can Gio District and Trung Lap Thuong Primary School in Cu Chi District, in the context of a shortage of primary school teachers...
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bao-nhieu-hoc-sinh-tphcm-duoc-hoc-2-buoi-ngay-185240814150257041.htm
