HCMC grapples with severe school, classroom shortage

Forced to utilize function rooms

Following a recent administrative merger, An Phu Ward now has a staggering population of 162,930 residents. Its student body for the 2025-2026 academic year is 23,116, yet it is served by only eight public schools.

At the primary level, this means about half of all students can only attend half-day classes. The situation is even more dire at the junior high level, where the ward’s single school, Nguyen Van Troi, must accommodate 4,763 students across 103 classes. “We have petitioned all levels of leadership to build more schools”, said the school’s Vice Principal Nguyen Ngoc Hieu. “But for now, we have to convert all of our science labs and subject rooms into classrooms just to have space.”

It is a similar story at An Phu Primary School. “To ensure a place for our 3,367 students, we’ve had to convert nearly all of our function rooms, creating 71 classes with 50-52 students each”, explained Vice Principal Nguyen Thi Ngoc Thi. The school is unable to offer on-site after-school programs and has had to partner with six external facilities.

Local officials feel powerless. “We have no more land funds for new schools, while our existing schools are using every available space as classrooms”, stated Deputy Head Pham Nguyen Truong Loc of the Culture and Social Affairs Division of An Phu Ward People’s Committee. “Equipment is damaged, desks are in short supply, and even if we could build more rooms on existing campuses, we’re constrained by Ministry of Education regulations on floor area per student.”

The crisis is widespread. At Thai Hoa Junior High School, Vice Principal Nguyen Van Khanh reported that his school is operating with 95 classrooms to accommodate its 3,300 students, more than double its designed capacity of 45. This leads to the transformation of 5 function rooms to a normal classroom, meaning no laboratories for natural science subjects.

According to the city’s education sector, Zone II (formerly known as Binh Duong Province) has seen its student population swell by 27,000 this year, the highest increase in five years, to the total of 530,000. While there is a plan to convert dozens of now-vacant administrative buildings into schools in hotspots like An Phu Ward and Di An Ward, most of these projects remain only “on paper”.

Paradox of abandoned schools

Compounding the crisis is a frustrating paradox. While thousands of students are crammed into overflowing classrooms, a number of school buildings and plots of land designated for education lie abandoned.

In Binh Quoi Ward, the old campus of Thanh Da High School has been sitting derelict for nearly eight years. Its peeling walls and rusted locks stand in stark contrast to the overcrowded and degraded schools that currently serve the ward’s 36,000 residents. “We are reviewing the plan and will propose a new school for this site”, said the ward’s chairman, Dang Minh Nguyen.

In Binh Phu Ward, Tran Van Kieu Primary School, a 6,500m² campus built in 2003, has been vacant for 17 years. It was abandoned in 2008 due to foundation subsidence and structural damage. Despite numerous pleas and proposals from local authorities to repair the facility, it remains empty.

Public land zoned for schools also sits unused due to bureaucratic red tape. In An Hoi Tay Ward, a community with over 13,000 students and only seven public schools, two plots of “clean” public land have been designated for a new primary and junior high school since 2010.

“The land is clear and ready”, explained Vice Chairman Nguyen Chi Kien of the ward’s People’s Committee. “However, the procedures for changing the land use purpose are slow, requiring input from numerous departments. We are hopeful we can finally break ground on one school in the fourth quarter of this year.”

A similar situation exists in numerous other wards and communes across HCMC, where public land planned for new school construction but left abandoned is not an uncommon scene. Meanwhile, the worry of lacking schools and classrooms is always present at the beginning of each new school year.

Deputy Director Nguyen Thi Nhat Hang of the HCMC Department of Education and Training informed that for the 2025-2026 school year, the city expects to open 1,287 new classrooms funded by the state budget, with an additional 390 rooms from private investment.

The city has directed all localities to report their classroom shortages following the recent administrative mergers. It is also adjusting the ‘4,500 Classrooms Project’ to prioritize construction in hotspot areas, remove projects entangled in legal issues, and add new projects that have arisen from the recent consolidation.

Party Secretary Huynh Cao Cuong of Vinh Loc Commune commented that his commune has over 167,000 residents but only 10 public schools. The need for classrooms is urgent. The ward is currently implementing eight new school construction projects. However, four of these projects are stalled due to difficulties in site clearance and compensation.

It has, therefore, included these projects in the Party Congress Resolution to ensure the entire political system monitors their progress, and it continues to call on residents to reach a consensus and hand over the land quickly to accelerate these vital projects.