LookAtVietnam – Non-existent and ill-equipped classrooms, few students and low pass rates are the outstanding features of non-state high schools in HCM City.

Non-state high schools vary widely in their levels of development. Some have become famous “star” schools, but others face dissolution. According to the HCM City Education and Training Department, 70 percent of non-state high schools are too small in scale and provide a poor education.

Always at the bottom of the list

Non-state schools crowd the list of high schools with low percentages of students passing final exams. Five non-state schools reported passing rates of less than 50 percent in 2009. These included Nguyen Trai School (26.44 percent), Huu Hau (30.56), Hung Dao (33 percent).

Non-state high schools have surprisingly low numbers of students, at times less than a single class in state-owned school. Thai Binh Duong Private School, for example, has 24 students for the 2009-2010 school year, Uc Chau School has 27, Ly Thai To, 37 and Phan Huy Ich, 58.

Poor facilities are also a headache for non-state schools. Many do not have a headquarters and must rent space from other agencies or companies for classrooms. A HCM City Education and Training Department report pointed out that non-state high schools seriously lack playing fields, practice grounds, boarding areas, extracurricular education and labs.

Upgrading to survive

While more and more non-state schools emerge, some others have to close their doors, such as Nhan Tri Private School, or halt enrollment, such as Nguyen Trai Private School. Nguyen Trai School is still operating, surprising many people who heard that the school’s investor had decided to dissolve the school in 2007. The school’s headmaster has been determined to revive the school.

Nguyen Trai School had a bout of “hard luck” with much-needed investment. The school’s leaders have had to rent cold storage spaces, a police station’s office and even rooms of a junior college as classrooms. The school’s address changed regularly, from District 3, District 5 to District 1 and then Tan Phu and Tan Binh Districts.

Nguyen Hoai Chuong, Deputy Director of the HCM City Education and Training Department, admitted that requirements to found a school were more lax several years ago. Now things are quite different and schools must prove they have good facilities and learning conditions before they can be established. He remarked that now non-state schools must upgrade themselves to survive.

VietNamNet/DT