Some schools are so overcrowded that they have 60 students in every class, while others are still looking to enroll more students. What’s more – these two types of schools are often located in the same area.

Van Phuc Primary School in Ba Dinh district

Van Phuc Primary School in Ba Dinh district in Hanoi, for example, has received applications from 55 students to enter first grade, while the school plans to have two first grade classes with 70 students. This does not surprise the teachers of the school, as the same thing was seen in previous years as well.

Van Phuc Primary School only has 10 classes and there are never more than 35 students in every class. The school has good material facilities with classrooms specifically designed for informatics, art, music and physical exercise lessons. In addition, it is awaiting the final decision from local authorities regarding recognition as a national standard school. The only problem of the school is that it always lacks students.

When asked why the school is lacking students, Bich, a teacher of the school, did not give a direct answer, just pointed out the road leading to the school: a small alley with no road sign, which is also the place for a market in the mornings and afternoons.

Moreover, Van Phuc Primary School is located in Doi Can ward, but it is assigned to enroll students who live in Kim Ma ward. As the school is located in a position separating it from Kim Ma ward by a canal, it is not favoured by students’ parents, who always try to bring their children to schools located in more advantageous positions like Dai Yen, Phan Chu Trinh or Ngoc Khanh.

More high-rise apartment buildings, schools become overloaded

Located in Ba Dinh district, Kim Dong Primary School has always been burdened by overly high numbers of students. In previous years, the school received some 460 students, while it has had to accept 600 students this year.

According to Kim Dong Primary School’s Headmaster Bui Thi Minh Hang, the school has been assigned to enroll eight classes for this year, but the school has had to open three more classes to receive all applicants. There are 60 students in every class, much higher than the standard level of 35 students per class.

Hang said that it is understandable why the school is overloaded: A 5-storey apartment building in the area has been replaced by a 15-storey one, while there is only one primary school.

Besides Kim Dong School, there are some ten schools which are favoured by students’ parents. As all parents want to send their children to these schools, while the seats at the schools are limited, the parents have to ‘go through the back door’. Local newspapers have reported cases in which parents have paid $3,000 for seats at famous schools.

No solution yet

Bich from Van Phuc School said that if student allocation was done well, the current problem of too many students in some schools and not enough in others would be settled.

However, Do Vu, head of the Ba Dinh district’s education sub-department, affirmed that schools have received concrete guidance on student allocation already.

“We ask schools not to receive students from other localities. However, parents still try to ‘lobby’ to be able to send their children to ‘star’ schools, resulting in the overload of students in some schools,” Vu said.

Besides, he said, parents always prefer schools in more advantageous positions, so that they can easily take their children to and from school. That explains why Van Phuc School, which is located in a small alley, finds it difficult to enroll students, while Kim Dong, which is located on a big street, is always overloaded.

Bao Anh