Lack of long-term planning causes shortages of schools in Vietnam

The desire to study in a good quality school with reasonably-priced fee seems simple, but sometimes it is an unattainable dream for too many families.

Rapid urbanisation and increased population have made many areas in Hà Nội face a serious lack of public education institutions, especially kindergartens and grade schools.

As a result, it creates pressure on the city’s education system. Approaching enrolment day, students are stressed with studying and parents lose sleep trying to find a suitable school for their children.

Dream of public school

In just a few months, the enrolment for all levels of education in Hà Nội will officially begin. The story of the shortage of public schools is once again ‘heating up’, with even more shortfall this year than in previous ones.

The aspiration for a reasonable fee-paying quality school seems simple, but it can sometimes be an unattainable dream of many families.

Nam Từ Liêm District is an example.

The school could not meet the rapidly increasing population in a short period of time, leading to a situation that children still have to go to schools in other areas, although many new primary schools were built right in front of their apartments. The older school can only accommodate about 1,100 students, while the actual demand was nearly 1,700.

According to a representative of thedistrict’s authorities, the planned scale of the school construction in this area was surveyed and evaluated based on actual investigation figures at the time of construction preparation.

However, when the school was completed and put into use, the population in the area increased sharply, making its capacity no longer sufficient, he said.

At the high school level, competition for admission to public schools is hotter than ever.

Bùi Thị Viên in Hoài Đức District decided to change her child’s enrolment application to other area so that he would have more opportunities to study.

“The benchmark scores have fluctuated a lot in recent years, and parents’ psychology in choosing a school for their children is like playing lotteries,” Viên told nguoiduatin.vn.

“Last year, Đoàn Kết High School, although a top school, saw a sharp decrease in benchmark scores, while many average schools saw their admission scores increase rapidly.

“Many people have had to turn to schools in other areas for application or calculate somehow to get their children into public schools, so it is very difficult to get what you wish for.”

She added: “With the current large number of candidates and only a few schools, getting into a public school is already difficult, wanting to get into a school you like and one that is prestigious is even more difficult.”

There are many reasons why the city has been pushed into a situation of ‘thirsty’ of public schools, but the leading cause is that population growth exceeds urban planning speeds.

According to reports of the municipal authorities, in the past two years, due to rapid urbanisation, many new residential areas were formed, leading to an increase in the school-age population. Although many schools have been renovated and newly built, the overload of public schools is still becoming increasingly serious in some districts, especially in inner-city districts.

Currently, Hà Nội is short of about 49 schools in the eight districts of Ba Đình, Cầu Giấy, Bắc Từ Liêm, Đống Đa, Hà Đông, Hai Bà Trưng, Hoàn Kiếm, and Hoàng Mai.

There were only two newly built schools in the 2024-25 school year.

The reports show that in the 2023-24 school year, there were 129,210 students finishing secondary schools, but only 72,000 places available at public high schools.

In the 2024-25 school year, the number of students completing secondary school increased to 133,000, but the actual places in public high schools is only 81,000.

School overload is also alarming at the pre-school level.

Thanh Xuân District has about 19 public kindergartens, with a total new enrolment quota of 3,067, while the total number of school-age students in the area is 19,883.

Even with the addition of 25 non-public kindergartens, the total number of students attending school is only about 4,585.

Meanwhile, in Cầu Giấy District, in the 2025-26 school year, there are more than 13,000 children from nursery age to five years old, but the total enrolment quota for pre-school children is only 5,834.

School shortage, population growth

According to Trần Thế Cương, director of Hà Nội’s Department of Education and Training, the city has the largest number of students in Việt Nam, with 2.3 million.

Every year, Hà Nội sees an increase of 40,000 to 50,000 students, requiring the city to build 30 to 40 new schools (both public and private) annually to meet the demand.

A major challenge Hà Nội faces is developing its school network according to urban planning rules in certain areas that have not kept pace with population growth.

Additionally, progress on several school construction projects outlined in planning documents has been slow. In some districts, class sizes remain above the regulated limit.

Of the most concern is the high school level, which currently has only 117 public schools — fewer than at the lower secondary, primary, or pre-school levels.

This creates significant pressure on students graduating from secondary school and applying for high school.

Each year, public high schools only admit 60 to 62 per cent of these students. The shortage of public schools—especially in densely populated inner-city districts—makes it difficult to keep up with student demand.

Trần Huy Ánh, a member of the Hà Nội Architects Association, said that the longstanding-shortage of schools in the capital stemmed from faulty initial data, which had a major impact on planning.

“Over the years, the number of public high schools has just accounted for 42 per cent of the total schools at all levels,” Ánh said.

“This means many residents cannot access public schools, despite high demand. The gap between supply and demand grows with each academic year. Students not only have to travel further and pay higher tuition fees, but in future, they may also lose access to school-fee subsidies, which are usually offered only in public schools,” he added.

According to experts, the formula for calculating land needed for school construction is based on population size.

Specifically, for every 1,000 residents, there are approximately 310 students across general education, vocational schools, colleges and special education.

Each student, depending on the education level, requires a specific amount of land for school facilities, according to national standards.

The Hà Nội People’s Council [Assembly] issued a resolution in 2012 on education development planning, stipulating that areas with a population of 30,000 to 50,000 must have one public high school and that school size is not to exceed 45 classes, with an average of 40 students per class.

Minimum land area per student is six square metres in inner-city areas, ten in suburban areas and 15 per student for newly built schools, in accordance with current construction standards.

“But due to improper planning and management, the shortage of schools, especially at the upper secondary level, cannot be easily resolved,” Ánh said.

He also highlighted the irony that while land is said to be of limited supply to build schools, it is still available for property developers, who continue to build and trade real estate. Many areas remain vacant or underused and developers often fail to construct schools as required, yet this situation has persisted for many years.

“In districts like Hoàng Mai, developers focus solely on residential housing, while schools are severely inadequate. From pre-schools to upper secondary schools, parents have to scramble to find places for their children,” Ánh said.

He noted that repairing and addressing the school shortage at this point was extremely difficult, as it was the result of years of neglect, all while the population continued to rise rapidly.

In his article “Lifelong Learning”, General Secretary Tô Lâm of the Việt Nam Communist Party, wrote: “We are living in an era where knowledge and intelligence help people maximise their potential, seize opportunities, and respond effectively to challenges for sustainable development.”

Clearly, investing in education is the most solid foundation for the nation to advance in this new era.

Without enough schools — a basic prerequisite for learning — Hà Nội faces a tough challenge it must overcome in the years to come.

Viet Nam News – April 21, 2025