LookAtVietnam – The primary school with the worst over crowding in Vietnam has over 5,000 students and 103 classes this school year.

Visitors to the school can see tables crammed into each classroom. Teachers have to shout to be understood.

The An Hoi School may be the worst but it’s not alone in its suffering. All Vietnamese primary schools have had to receive many more first grade students this year.

Many are blaming it on the fact that 2003, when most were born, was the year of goat – a year considered lucky by Vietnamese.

Meanwhile this latest and largest intake has meant further problems for An Hoi which has had to ‘borrow’ seven rooms from Pham Van Chieu secondary school.

Lacking schools and classrooms has been a big problem for Go Vap district in HCM City over the last ten years. However, the problem has become more acute since 2005-2006. That school year, An Hoi School had 4,000 students and 90 classes.

When asked what can be done, An Hoi School, deputy head of the Go Vap Education Sub-department Do Thi Hoa admits there is no immediate solution.

Hoa says the number of students has been increasing dramatically in the last few years, because the increase in numbers of people moving to cities from the countryside.

Meanwhile, parents still want to take their children to An Hoi School and refuse to leave for other schools, because An Hoi is nearer their homes.

Local residents hope that overcrowding will be settled soon. The district’s authorities plan to build two more secondary schools in the district, which will also serve primary school students.

In fact, overloaded schools can be seen across big cities. Chief Education Inspector Nguyen Van Chien, who has returned from an inspection tour, said the problem is serious, especially in Hanoi. At many primary schools, up to 60 per class is normal.

VietNamNet/TT, Dan tri