Ensuring adequate school facilities for new academic year

With about a month to go before the opening ceremony for the 2026–2027 school year, communes and wards across Dong Nai City are stepping up repairs and upgrades to school facilities to ensure favourable conditions for teaching and learning.

The contractor is accelerating construction work at Thong Nhat Primary School in Phuoc Son commune.

Although new school buildings cannot yet be constructed because the communes fall within an area designated for future mineral exploitation projects, the authorities of Phuoc Son and Tho Son have been making every effort to renovate, upgrade and improve existing facilities to ensure schools are ready for the new academic year.

Focusing on practical solutions

In the 2026–2027 academic year, Tho Son Commune has eight kindergartens, primary schools and lower secondary schools serving nearly 4,000 students in 130 classes. However, many schools continue to face infrastructure shortages because they are located within the planning area for mineral exploration, mining, processing and utilisation projects.

Phu Son Primary School, built in 1989, has deteriorated significantly. Its tiled roof has sagged, walls have become damp, and many classrooms leak during heavy rain, posing safety risks to both teachers and students. In response, local authorities closed 18 classrooms and four functional rooms at the school's main campus in December 2024 and temporarily relocated teachers and students to nearby schools. Specifically, the school has borrowed two classrooms from Huong Duong Kindergarten and 12 classrooms and functional rooms from Quang Trung Secondary School.

Dang Quang Ngoc, Principal of Phu Son Primary School, said the borrowed rooms had to be rearranged and renovated to meet teaching requirements.

"This is a temporary solution to ensure teaching and learning can continue. In the long run, however, we hope higher-level authorities will soon provide a long-term solution for upgrading the school," he said.

According to Dieu Thi Hanh, Vice Chairwoman of the Tho Son Commune People's Committee, school facilities remain inadequate because the commune is affected by bauxite mining planning, preventing comprehensive investment in education infrastructure. Many facilities, including specialised classrooms, functional rooms, libraries, playgrounds, sports grounds and supporting infrastructure, remain insufficient or have deteriorated, affecting teaching and learning.

To gradually address these challenges, the commune has allocated VND5.1 billion from its 2026 budget to build a covered multi-purpose hall at Tho Son Secondary School, construct five prefabricated classrooms, and renovate teachers' accommodation, gates, fences, retaining walls and the former administrative building at Doan Duc Thai Primary and Secondary School.

"The projects are currently under construction. Under the roadmap, Phu Son Primary School will be merged with Quang Trung Secondary School. Accordingly, school facilities will continue to be reorganised to ensure stable operations," Hanh said.

Proactively preparing sufficient classrooms

Phuoc Son Commune has 10 schools serving more than 6,000 students, around 63% of whom are from ethnic minority communities.

Tran Ngoc Cong, Chairman of the Phuoc Son Commune People’s Committee, said that in response to deteriorating school facilities and shortages of classrooms and functional rooms, the commune has worked closely with relevant municipal agencies to develop appropriate solutions while mobilising available resources to repair and upgrade schools before the new academic year. This year, renovation work is focused on three schools: Thong Nhat Primary School, Thong Nhat Secondary School and Nguyen Van Troi Primary School.

"We regularly inspect construction sites and urge contractors to mobilise sufficient workers and equipment while taking advantage of favourable weather conditions to accelerate progress. So far, around 35% of the work has been completed. All projects are expected to be finished and put into use before the start of the new academic year”.

Tran Ngoc Cong, Chairman of the Phuoc Son commune People's Committee.

At Thong Nhat Secondary School, the commune is renovating a 12-classroom building, the schoolyard and several related facilities at the main campus in Phuoc Tam hamlet. It is also converting eight unused classrooms at the former Nguyen Van Troi Primary School into a satellite campus.

Dang Quoc Viet, Principal of Thong Nhat Secondary School, said that once the satellite campus is completed, it will accommodate six classrooms and two equipment rooms, providing sufficient facilities to meet the school's teaching and learning needs.

At Thong Nhat Primary School, 340 students will study in 18 classrooms spread across three campuses during the 2026–2027 academic year. Two of the satellite campuses are located between seven and nine kilometres from the main campus.

Nong Thi Uyen, Vice Principal in charge of the school, said the main campus was built many years ago, and many facilities have seriously deteriorated. During heavy rain, numerous classrooms suffer from leaks, while peeling walls and damaged floor tiles have affected both teaching quality and safety. "The renovation and upgrading project has been warmly welcomed not only by local authorities and the school management board, but also by teachers, students and parents," she said.

Nguyen Duc Dung, construction site manager for the project to upgrade and repair Thong Nhat Primary School, said the old tiled roofs of all classrooms are being removed and replaced with insulated metal roofing. Damaged walls, columns and beams are also being repaired and repainted, while the electrical system is being completely replaced to ensure safety during use. Similar repair and upgrading work is also underway at the satellite campus to ensure quality and safety for teachers and students.

The proactive renovation of ageing school facilities, effective use of existing classrooms and flexible allocation of educational infrastructure in Phuoc Son and Tho Son communes have helped ease classroom shortages ahead of the new academic year. These efforts not only ensure safer and better learning conditions for teachers and students but also demonstrate the commitment and responsibility of local authorities in addressing grassroots challenges, laying a solid foundation for the locality's socio-economic development.

By Q.Minh – Translated by M.Nguyet, Minho