VietNamNet Bridge – A lot of new urban areas do not have state-owned schools, and local residents have to bring their children to other districts to learn at the schools there.

Some new urban areas do not lack the land funds for building schools and do not lack the schools. The problem lies that there are only privately-founded schools in the new urban areas, which collect high tuitions from students while there are not any state-owned schools. That explains why students have to go to study in state-owned schools in other districts.

In the 2008-2009 school year, Trung Van Secondary School and Trung Van High School in Trung Van and Me Tri new urban areas in Tu Liem district, were put into operation. However, these are just a couple of the very few state-owned schools set up in the 40 new urban areas in Hanoi.

According to the Hanoi Education and Training Department, the new urban areas in Hoang Mai district only has five new schools, while the areas are expected to have 17 schools. Meanwhile, there are only two kindergartens, while the areas need to have 19, not enough to receive all the children in each area.

More than 4,000 households in Bac Linh Dam new urban area now have to bring their children to the state-owned schools in the neighbouring Hoang Mai district to learn (Dai Kim, Thinh Liet and Thanh Liet schools). There is a nearby privately-founded school, Phuong Nam school, but the tuition there proves to be unaffordable for many families, many who are state employees.

In Trung Hoa-Nhan Chinh new urban area, which gathers people who had to leave the old accommodations in resettlement projects, the primary school, which was designed on paper, has not been built yet. Hundreds of students have to go to study at schools in the neighbouring districts. There is no popular kindergarten, there are only two high grade kindergartens which collect several millions VND in tuition a month, and prove to be unaffordable for resettlement people.

The Hanoi Education and Training Department decides that at least half of the schools in new urban areas must be state-owned schools. However, in fact, most of the newly built schools in the new urban areas have been built with non-state capital. Phuong Nam School in Dinh Cong new urban area, Lomonosov, and Doan Thi Diem Schools in My Dinh new urban area, Le Quy Don and Ly Thai To primary schools, and many kindergartens, are all privately-founded schools, which all collect high fees and are unaffordable for many families.

In Dinh Cong-Dai Kim new urban area, there are several hectares of land reserved for building schools. However, the land plot has been left idle in the last seven years, since the new urban area was put into operation. It is because no suitable investor for schools has been found.

(Source: KT & DT)