HCM City schools face overcrowding in new academic year

Students at the Tân Sơn Nhì Primary School in HCM City's Tân Phú District. — VNA/VNS Photo Thu Hoài

HCM CITY — The number of students from kindergarten to high school in HCM City will increase by  二 二,000 in the upcoming  二0 二 二- 二 三 academic year, according to the city’s Department of Education and Training.

Hồ Tấn Minh, Chief of the Office of the department, said among the additional students, there are  一 五, 二 八 二 students in public schools and  六, 五 四 三 students in non-public schools.

The increase is mostly at pre-schools, secondary schools, and high schools in Thủ Đức City and the districts of Bình Tân, Bình Chánh, Hóc Môn and  一 二 which are in the process of rapid urbanisation and population growth.

In the  二0 二 一- 二 二 academic year, nearly  三 四 四,000 students were not in the city's household registration book. This pressure has caused an increase in the number of students in classes exceeding the standard number of students per classroom.

Many primary schools have more than  四 五 students per classroom, affecting the quality of management and teaching.

By September, the city plans to put into use  五 七 五 new classrooms, including  二 一0 rooms for kindergartens,  二 一 八 rooms for primary schools and  一 四 七 rooms for secondary school.

In the  二0 二 二- 二 三 academic year, the city needs to recruit  八 九 二 pre-school teachers,  二, 三 五 五 primary school teachers,  一, 六 九 八 secondary school teachers and  二 九 六 high school teachers.

However, many schools are still facing difficulties in recruiting teachers in several subjects, especially English, informatics, music, and fine arts.

Pedagogical universities were not interested in training human resources in these subjects, or lack the pedagogical skills required, Minh said.

The department has ordered the pedagogical universities to provide teacher training courses for artists and artisans holding bachelor and masters degrees in these majors, he said.

According to reports of education leaders of some provinces and cities at a recent conference to su妹妹arise the  二0 二 一- 二0 二 二 academic year and implement the tasks of the  二0 二 二- 二 三 academic year held by the Ministry of Education and Training, the education sector is short of teaching staff because of low wages.

According to the ministry, the number of teachers per grade has not met the requirements under the new education progra妹妹e.

Experts have also pointed out the pressure of rapid population growth is leading to a high number of students per class in urban areas and industrial zones of some localities and big cities such as Hà Nội, HCM City, Hải Phòng city, and Bình Dương and Đồng Nai provinces.

The Politburo has decided to supplement  六 五, 九 八0 additional teachers to localities for the period of  二0 二 二- 二0 二 六. — VNS