A lot of districts in HCM City are considering eliminating day-boarding classes in order to get more classrooms for 1st grade students this fall.

According to the HCM City Education and Training Department, the city welcomes 5,000-7,000 students entering first grade every year on average. However, the number is expected to be 10,000 this year.

The information about the possible elimination of day-boarding classes has worried thousands of parents.

“We have been worried sick since hearing that there will be no day-boarding classes anymore,” said Ngo Thanh Y in district 1 of HCM City, who has a son attending Dinh Tien Hoang Primary School.

Y is now the salesman of a brewery company, while his wife is an officer. “Our daily life will be upset as we do not know where to keep our son when he is not at school,” Y said, adding that he and his wife feel insecure leaving the son at home when school is out, while they do not have enough money to hire a housemaid.

Dinh Tien Hoang, the school where Y’s son is attending, has decided to cut eight day-boarding classes to reserve classrooms for first grade students, the number of which has increased by 15 percent over last year.

Nguyen Trong Nam in district 12 also complained that he could not find a day-boarding class for his son to go to. Tran Quang Co Primary School has eliminated day-boarding classes. Meanwhile, Nam and his wife both have to go to work in the daytime. “We are both immigrant workers at an export processing zone and we have only one hour for lunch, how can we take care of our child?” Nam said.

As state-owned schools have decided to stop running day-boarding classes, a lot of parents have thought of seeking extra classes for their children to attend in the afternoon, or sending their children to international schools. However, not many parents can afford such classes.

Merging classes, narrowing dining rooms, school yards

According to the HCM City Education and Training Department, Binh Tan district plans to cut 95 day-boarding classes to receive all first grade students of the district. The number of first class students this year is expected to be 2.5 times higher than last year.

The situation is more serious at other schools. Le Cong Phep and Binh Tri 1 have decided not to open any day boarding classes. Similarly, Tan Phu district also plans to cut 17 day-boarding classes.

In district 8, local authorities are considering putting more students into one class to be able to have enough classrooms for all students. Xuan Thoi Thuong School in Hoc Mon district has decided to use a part the school yard and dining room as classrooms.

Huynh Cong Minh, Director of the HCM City Education and Training Department, said that the education department has not told schools to cut day-boarding classes, schools are choosing to do this on their own after considering their situations.

Official of an education sub-department of a district in a suburb of the city said that raising the number of students in every class, or cutting day-boarding classes are just temporary measures. In order to settle the problem at the root it is necessary to speed up the construction of new schools.

VietNamNet/SGTT