Van Lang Secondary School in Tan Dinh Ward in District 1 is about 1,000 square meters wide and has 650 students. Some 45 students study in a class with an area of only 30-32 square meters.
According to the District 1 Investment and Construction Management Board, the District 1 People’s Committee approved an investment of VND49 billion for Van Lang Secondary School in 2017. The project was planned to include one basement and four floors.
However, when the board began coordinating with related district units to implement the project, they encountered significant challenges. Two households were still residing on the school grounds, and compensation for these households was not included in the total investment, which ultimately prevented the project from moving forward.
The district has proposed to the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee and the Department of Planning and Investment to approve a shift from new construction to repair and renovation, with a total investment of over VND23 billion (US$928,566). District 1 is hopeful that the city will approve this plan soon, said Director Pham Quach Truong Giang of the District 1 Construction Investment Management Board.
In addition to Van Lang Secondary School, District 1 also has many old townhouses and villas that were built before the liberation day that are facing many difficulties in expansion and construction of new ones due to lack of land funds. These are Tuoi Hong Kindergarten, Nguyen Hue Primary School, Dong Khoi Secondary School, Chu Van An Secondary School, and Duc Tri Secondary School.
It’s worth mentioning that constructing a new school must adhere to new regulations, which often results in a reduced number of classrooms. When the district was looking for solutions like purchasing land from neighboring households to expand the school, they faced further challenges. At first. the residents agreed to sell, but later the complex and lengthy conversion procedures led them to change their minds and withdraw from the sale.
Principal Bui Thi Thanh of Nguyen Hue Primary School mentioned that the school’s facilities have significantly deteriorated after more than 50 years of use. Despite these challenges, both teachers and students continue to maintain top academic performance in the district. Teachers and students of the school expected that relevant departments would soon remove bottlenecks for the progress of the construction project for a new school with 30 classrooms and fully functional rooms.
Chairman Nguyen Quoc Thong of the People's Committee in Binh Thanh District’s Ward 27 encouraged the group of youth volunteers and militia to complete soon the work of cutting, trimming, and cleaning that area to prevent mosquitoes from breeding in the old Thanh Da High School campus which may turn the facility into an epidemic hotbed.
Over the past seven years, after Thanh Da High School was rebuilt, the old dilapidated school became a headache for the locality.
The school is abandoned with weeds growing wildly, especially when the rainy season comes; worse, vagrants cut the gate to illegally reside. Furthermore, the ward chairman is constantly concerned about the risk of fire and explosions, as well as ensuring public safety. Although Ward 27 conducts clean-up efforts twice a year on average, the area often reverts to its previous state due to the lack of ongoing maintenance.
Elsewhere in the southern largest city, Tran Van Kieu Primary School in District 6 was newly constructed in 2003, featuring a ground floor, two additional floors, and 26 classrooms with fully functional rooms. The total construction cost was nearly VND20 billion covering an area of 6,500 square meters, and the school was put into use in 2004. However, by 2008, the school ceased operations due to subsidence issues that damaged the load-bearing structure, enclosure system, and auxiliary facilities such as the yard, toilets, and emergency stairs. The school has remained vacant since then.
In recent years, District 6 has proposed various solutions to the city and relevant departments to repair the project and restore its operation as soon as possible.
The city People’s Committee has directed the Department of Finance and the Department of Construction to advise on the acceptance and finalization of the project according to the proposal of the People's Committee of District 6. It is expected that after the acceptance and finalization, the district will take the initiative in implementing the investment in the construction of a new school from 2025 to 2030.
In addition, the district proposed an expense of VND95 billion taken from the city budget for the construction of the new school in the coming. However, the acceptance and finalization of the project have not progressed yet, said Vice Chairman Huynh Minh Hung of the People's Committee of District 6.
