Hanoi has put 40 schools with nearly 1,000 classrooms into operation, raising the total number of schools or the new academic year 2014-2015 to over 2,500. However, the overloading of schools has not eased.

The head of a district education sub-department in Hanoi said city authorities have to build a new school big enough for the number of students in a ward every time new residential quarters and apartment blocks are built.

It s not easy to build new schools, because there is little land left in the land fund reserved for school expansion.

Bui Kim Thuy, headmaster of Hoang Hoa Tham Primary School, said the number of students in every class had steadily increased in recent years because of newly built high-rises in the ward.

One classroom in the school covers 67 square meters, enough for 35 students. However, 60 students have to share the same room.

The headmasters of Trung Tu and Nam Thanh Cong Primary Schools in Dong Da District have also complained that the schools have become overloaded due to a sharp increase in the number of local residents.

An official of Dong Da District’s education sub-department said all of the rooms at the local schools, including rooms such as clinics, multi-purpose classrooms, libraries and equipment rooms, have been turned into classrooms. Still, overcrowding continues. At Kim Lien School, 65 students are studying in the same classroom.

Under current regulations, students have to go to schools located in the same districts where they live. However, a report showed that at some schools in Dong Da District, 50 percent of students are from other districts.

The headmaster of one school said that though her school was always overloaded, she still had to receive more students who are relatives of VIPs to “uphold good relations with high-ranking officials”.

She said many Hanoians prefer to send their children to reputable schools, even though the schools are far from their homes. With improved living standards, parents want to choose the best schools for their children.

Because of this demand, the efforts of Hanoi’s Education and Training Department to reduce the number of classes in each school in addition to class size and student enrollment from other districts, have been in vain.

In related news, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved the building of 5,000 classrooms and homes for teachers by 2015.

The Government has allocated VND3.7 trillion to the project from its bond contingency fund.