Determine future investment
In the last days of February, on the land planned for the construction of Ban Lau Inter-level Boarding Primary and Secondary School, the atmosphere still has the appearance of a prosperous agricultural production area. Green cabbage beds, banana gardens preparing for harvest stretching across the smooth, flat land of Tao Giang and Trung Tam villages.
Pointing to the orchards that are in season, Mr. Duong Van Thuong - Head of Tao Giang village - shared that in the past, people mainly grew corn and rice, with low incomes. In recent years, people have switched to growing bananas, passion fruit and vegetables, and their lives have gradually stabilized. When they learned that this area was planned to build boarding schools, many households could not help but wonder because they had to give up cultivated land.
However, when the government propagated and explained the meaning of building a border school, people all agreed. Everyone hopes to have a new spacious school so that their children can study better and not have to go far, especially during the rainy and flood season" - Mr. Thuong said.
According to the leader of Ban Lau Commune People's Committee, immediately after the policy was issued, the locality organized a people's meeting, announced the plan, determined the origin of the land and deployed the inventory of trees and crops. Thanks to doing a good job of mobilization, all households in the project area agreed on the land recovery plan, creating favorable conditions for site clearance.
Not only in Ban Lau, the spirit of consensus is also strongly spreading in Trinh Tuong commune. The land planned for school construction in Ban Trung village has about 20 households growing cinnamon, eucalyptus and forestry trees. Although the trees are in the growth cycle, people are still ready to coordinate measurement and inventory to hand over the site.
Mr. Thao Van Duong - Head of Ban Trung village - said: "This is a major policy, helping children in border areas have better learning conditions. People determine that this is an investment for the future, so they strongly support it. Not only having educational significance, these projects also contribute to stabilizing population, creating motivation for socio-economic development and strengthening national defense and security in border areas.
Complete procedures, ready to start construction
In Bat Xat commune, the land for building a multi-level boarding school is located on the road connecting the Kim Thanh - Ban Vuoc route to the commune center. This is an area that already has Bat Xat High School No. 1 and Bat Xat Ethnic Minority Boarding School, forming a synchronous education cluster.
Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung - Chairman of Bat Xat Commune People's Committee - said that the locality is coordinating with the Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board to accelerate the survey, planning and approval steps. In parallel with that is the work of propaganda and mobilization of people to hand over land.
According to the plan, Lao Cai province will deploy investment in the construction of 9 inter-level boarding schools in land border communes and wards, with a total estimated investment of nearly 1,480 billion VND. Schools are invested synchronously including classrooms, dormitories, multi-purpose buildings, libraries, kitchens and modern technical infrastructure systems.
Each school has a scale of 28 to 36 classes, meeting the learning needs of about 980 to more than 1,200 students; meeting level 2 facilities according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training. This is an important condition to help highland students study and live in a safe and convenient environment.
In November 2025, Lao Cai province started construction of 4 schools in A Mu Sung, Y Ty, Muong Khuong and Pha Long communes with a total investment of 945 billion VND. Currently, projects are being actively implemented, striving to be completed in August 2026.
Mr. Dinh Van Dang - Director of the Lao Cai Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board - informed that the unit is closely coordinating with departments, branches and localities to complete dossiers, clear ground, and prepare necessary conditions to soon start construction of the remaining 5 schools in Trinh Tuong, Ban Lau, Bat Xat, Si Ma Cai communes and Lao Cai ward.
The province aims to accelerate progress but still ensure quality and investment efficiency. The early commencement of the remaining schools will contribute to completing the boarding school network in the border area" - Mr. Dang assessed.
At the meeting with the Ministry of Education and Training, Lao Cai province also proposed that the Central Government allow the application of a special public investment mechanism for these 5 projects in order to shorten the preparation time and ensure the implementation progress according to the Government's direction.
