According to the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), in the 2023-2024 school year, the country will have nearly 2 million students at all levels (an increase of 499,960 students). The student/class ratio in primary school is 32.1, in secondary school it is 37.71 and in high school it is 40.27. However, in some big cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong... the number of students per class far exceeding the ratio prescribed by the MOET is still a difficult problem to solve.

School overload

Hoang Mai District (Hanoi) has been a hot spot for lack of schools and classrooms in recent years. In the 2022-2023 school year, hundreds of parents of Hoang Liet Kindergarten had to draw lots for public school places for their children, while this is a right that they should naturally enjoy, showing an alarming situation that needs to be resolved. By September 2023, the district had approved the investment policy to build 4 new schools including: Hoang Liet Kindergarten, Hoang Liet High School and 2 primary schools in Hoang Liet ward, expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

In addition, Hoang Mai district is also urgently implementing and speeding up the construction progress of 3 school projects in Dinh Cong, 3 school projects in Vinh Hung... in parallel with reviewing and adding more than 20 schools at all levels, which are also expected to be completed in the 2025 school year.

Thus, in the immediate future, in the 2024-2025 school year, this district still lacks nearly 40 public schools if compared with the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training. This creates a burden and pressure for other public schools in the area and the people themselves when they have to struggle to find a place for their children to study that meets the quality, is convenient and close to home but the cost cannot exceed the financial capacity of the family. Therefore, although the non-public school system in this area is not lacking, choosing a school for their children is still an extremely difficult problem for parents.

According to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, each kindergarten has no more than 20 classes, each class is determined by age but no more than 35 students. For primary schools, the maximum size is 30 classes, each class no more than 35 students. For secondary schools, the maximum size is 45 classes, each class no more than 45 students.

Difficult to ensure the required number of students

Recently, the Ministry of Education and Training continued to require localities to ensure the number of students per class according to the regulations of the Primary School Charter, ensuring the number of students per class is 35 in the 2024-2025 school year. This regulation is also very difficult to ensure in many areas of Ho Chi Minh City due to the reason of mechanical population increase, especially in the outlying districts, leading to high class size, usually from 40 - 45 students per class.

Even in Binh Tan district, this year it is estimated that there will be about 66,000 students in 28 primary schools. Although some newly built schools have been put into use this school year, the goal is to reduce the number of students to 42 students per class... To reach the rate of 35 students as prescribed is not feasible. The rate of primary school students studying 2 sessions/day in Binh Tan district is only 63%.

This will make it difficult to implement the new general education program. The reason is that because the class is crowded, the interaction between teachers and students will be more difficult, making it difficult to ensure the success as expected for the new program that the education sector and society expect.

Also overloaded with schools, Go Vap District (HCMC) has proactively arranged for 100% of secondary schools in the area to allow students to study 2 sessions/day. At the primary level, the rate of studying 2 sessions/day is 89%. One of the solutions this district is implementing is to arrange for students to study in mobile classrooms. Go Vap District makes the most of its facilities, takes the maximum initiative to prioritize students to study 2 sessions, takes advantage of functional classrooms, neighboring schools...

However, according to experts, building new schools is still a long-term solution to best meet the needs of students and ensure the required number of students. In addition, renovating, adding floors, and building additional units to quickly have more classrooms will contribute to increasing the number of students studying in public schools.

In particular, the good news for students in the capital is that the medium-term public investment plan has allocated capital for the construction of 7 advanced and modern primary, secondary and high schools.

4/7 units have investment policies and the Hanoi People's Council will approve this policy to serve as a premise for the units to implement the project. When the projects come into operation, they will help overcome the shortage of schools in some densely populated districts.

Proactively solve the problem of teacher shortage

The story of teacher shortage is a recurring concern for educational institutions every time a new school year begins. This situation makes localities struggle to organize teaching and learning. This is also a problem for the education sector to ensure the quality of implementing the new program at all levels. At the 2024 Conference of Directors of Departments of Education and Training organized by the Ministry of Education and Training recently, representatives of many Departments of Education and Training such as Dak Lak and Hau Giang also shared their concerns about the shortage of teachers and difficulty in recruiting teachers in the locality.

In Ho Chi Minh City, for the 2024-2025 school year, teacher recruitment has been expanded to 29 public service units in the city. This is to help schools be more proactive in recruiting teachers and staff, thereby enhancing the responsibility of leaders and ensuring operational efficiency at the unit.

According to the announcement of the list of candidates for the 2024-2025 school year education civil service recruitment by the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, 13/15 subjects have recruited enough teachers compared to the recruitment needs. This is a more positive result than previous school years, because there is no longer a shortage of teachers in many subjects. The two subjects that did not recruit enough teachers this school year are Music and Fine Arts, with 8 candidates recruited out of 9 recruitment needs and 3 candidates recruited out of 7 recruitment needs.

The shortage of teachers is not only happening in Ho Chi Minh City but also in most localities nationwide. In addition to the two subjects of Music and Fine Arts, primary and secondary schools also lack resources for other specific subjects such as English, Information Technology, and Physical Education.

The solutions proposed by localities to attract teachers are very diverse. For example, Ho Chi Minh City is completing a policy project to attract teachers to work at public primary schools in special subjects that are difficult to recruit.

Accordingly, teachers recruited for the first time in these subjects will be supported from 30 - 50 million VND/school year in the first 3 years of work. The support includes living expenses, housing, transportation, self-study and research costs, etc.

According to the assessment of Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Xuan Nhi - former Deputy Minister of Education and Training, the new salary policy from July 1 for teachers with the increase in basic salary and many changes in allowances for teachers has made many teachers excited, somewhat more secure in their profession. However, to attract and retain teachers, more practical policies are needed to care for this team.

“Directive No. 29, dated January 5, 2024 of the Politburo also emphasized the need to continue to innovate salary policies, recruitment, employment, treatment, attraction, and ensure necessary conditions for teachers to perform their tasks well; have policies to encourage and provide incentives for teachers working in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions and specialized educational institutions. The problem is how to put the policies into practice. The education sector and each locality need to be proactive in proposing flexible and appropriate solutions for their locality to attract and retain teachers,” Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Xuan Nhi suggested.

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In the 2024-2025 school year, 6 localities have announced exemptions and reductions in tuition fees for students at all levels. Specifically, Vinh Phuc will reduce 50% of tuition fees for students at all levels compared to last year, from 30,000 - 180,000 VND/student/month. Ho Chi Minh City also announced a new tuition reduction of about 100,000 - 240,000 VND/month depending on the level of study, this level is equal to the collection level of the 2021-2022 school year. Long An reduces 50% of tuition fees for preschool children under 5 years old studying at public preschools and exempts 100% of tuition fees for secondary school students at public schools in the province. Da Nang and Hai Phong City continue to decide to exempt tuition fees for students from preschool to high school.