Increase 39 schools in 1 year

Today, August 14, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training held a conference to summarize the 2023-2024 school year and deploy tasks for the new school year. At the conference, Mr. Tran The Cuong, Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, said: Up to now, Hanoi has 2,913 kindergartens and general schools at all levels (an increase of 39 kindergartens and general schools compared to the same period last year), and 29 vocational education and continuing education centers.

The rate of public schools meeting national standards in the whole city is nearly 80%; the city has recognized 23 high-quality schools. Preparations are underway to invest in building 7 advanced and modern inter-level schools with an area of ​​5 hectares or more in the area.

However, the number of students in Hanoi has also increased rapidly every year, specifically this year it increased by 68,917 students compared to the same period last year, bringing the total number of students to nearly 2.3 million, accounting for about 1/10 of the country's students.

Therefore, the leaders of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training pointed out that the development of the school network according to the plan has not met the population growth rate; the progress of implementing some school construction projects is still slow. Some districts have rapid urbanization and high student numbers such as: Cau Giay, Thanh Xuan, Hoang Mai, Hai Ba Trung, Ha Dong, Nam Tu Liem, Bac Tu Liem, Dong Da...

The quality of staff, teachers, and education between inner-city and suburban schools still varies greatly. Some units have surplus or shortage of teachers; there is still a shortage of accounting, medical, music, and IT staff...

Talking about one of the key tasks of the new school year, Mr. Tran The Cuong said that Hanoi will continue to review, supplement, and re-plan the network of educational facilities, meeting standards and regulations, ensuring educational quality, and meeting the requirements of renewing the general education program.

The city proposed to develop plans and solutions to completely resolve the lack of schools and classrooms, especially in central districts.

In addition, in the new school year, the city will improve the quality of forecasting work on school and staff development in accordance with practical conditions. Prioritize investment in classrooms, libraries, toilets, and clean water facilities; review and supplement regulations on technical standards and norms for facilities and teaching equipment.

According to the leader of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, in the period of 2025 - 2030, the city plans to build 30 - 35 new public high schools. Districts have allocated land to build schools, Cau Giay District will build 3 new public high schools; Hoang Mai, Dong Anh districts... will also build more schools.

Need to remove "bottlenecks" in teachers

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Pham Ngoc Thuong, Deputy Minister of Education and Training, emphasized that last school year, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training directed educational institutions to operate effectively, ending the situation of parents having to queue up to submit application forms to schools.

Mr. Thuong shared other positive impressions of Hanoi education when this locality leads the country in the results of implementing digital report cards at the primary level, reaching a rate of up to 97.6% while the Ministry of Education and Training only set a target of each locality piloting about 50%.

The leaders of the Ministry of Education and Training also assessed that the Hanoi Education and Training sector has organized many activities and models of sharing with teachers and students in difficult circumstances in the capital and the whole country with many noble gestures such as supporting teachers to teach English, IT, improving the quality of education... for the northern mountainous provinces.

The 2024-2025 school year is an important year to synchronously and completely implement the 2018 general education program. Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong suggested that the Hanoi Department of Education and Training continue to pay attention to a number of contents such as improving the effectiveness and efficiency of state management of education, direction, innovation of teaching methods and testing and evaluation.

Mr. Thuong also suggested that Hanoi needs to solve some "bottlenecks" such as the low rate of qualified teachers. Teacher shortages may occur in the near future. "Hanoi currently has more than 8,000 unused staffing quotas, the largest in the country. This will cause difficulties for the Ministry of Education and Training when it proposes that the Ministry of Home Affairs continue to assign staffing quotas to the sector," Mr. Thuong said.

Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Tran Sy Thanh requested the Hanoi Department of Education and Training to actively and proactively advise on policies and mechanisms in the field of education and training in the direction of ensuring autonomy and self-responsibility; develop a plan to implement the Capital Law, especially specific and outstanding mechanisms and policies on education and training development to create a favorable legal corridor to effectively exploit potentials and advantages, serving the cause of education and training development in the capital; and remove current shortcomings in schools and staff.