Children studying far away, parents have more worries
Immediately after localities in Ho Chi Minh City announced the results of enrollment at the beginning of the 2026-2027 school year, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thao (Binh Tan ward) continuously logged into the enrollment system with the hope that her child's zoning results would be adjusted.
Her child is in 6th grade this year but is assigned to Huynh Van Nghe Secondary School, about 8-9km from home, while near the residence there are still Ho Van Long Secondary School and Tan Tao Secondary School.
I just hope my child can study near home for convenient pick-up and drop-off. The deadline for enrollment confirmation is approaching but I still don't know if it will be adjusted or not" - Ms. Thao shared.
Many parents in Binh Tan ward proposed adjusting the zoning, hoping that their children can study near home to reduce time and travel costs.
Mr. Ho Van Long (Tan Vinh Loc commune) said that his child was assigned to Binh Hung Hoa Secondary School, about 7km from home. The family has completed procedures to cancel the initial zoning results according to local instructions to wait for the school to be relocated near their residence.
School pressure, inappropriate zoning
Parents' feedback shows that entrance exam pressure is still concentrated in many areas of Ho Chi Minh City, especially places with high mechanical population growth rates.
In areas with a large number of workers and migrant workers, the number of students is increasing rapidly, causing schools to be overloaded, and many children have to be diverted far from their places of residence.
In Ben Cat ward, where there are about 116,000 people and many factories and industrial parks are concentrated, most primary schools are overloaded. In the 2026-2027 school year, My Phuoc Primary School only enrolls about 400 first-grade students but has received more than 500 applications; Luong The Vinh Primary School has a target of about 245 students but also receives over 350 applications.
Ms. Cao Thi Giau - a worker renting a room in Ben Cat ward - said that her family registered her child for My Phuoc Primary School, but the result was Lai Hung Primary School, more than 12km from her residence.
Each month, the couple only earns about 13 million VND. Rent, electricity, water, and tuition fees for the two children already account for the majority of income. If we have to drive more than 20km each day to pick up and drop off the children, it is both costly and difficult to ensure working hours" - Ms. Giau said.
According to the leader of the Department of Culture and Society of Ben Cat ward, assigning students to further schools is a temporary solution to ensure that all children have places to study. Along with that, the locality has opened more classes, increased the number of students and contacted schools in the surrounding area to receive students.
In Dong Hoa ward, many parents also reflected that their houses are near schools, but their children are assigned to other schools that are further away. Some families have two children but each child studies in one school, making pick-up and drop-off difficult.
According to the leader of Dong Hoa Ward People's Committee, this year online enrollment registration is being piloted, so some inadequacies have arisen in the process of allocating students. Currently, about 100 cases are being reviewed by the locality for adjustment.
Ho Chi Minh City has 3,438 educational institutions, serving about 2.52 million students, but is still under enrollment pressure due to rapidly increasing mechanical population. The city is accelerating the completion of 1,000 classrooms for the 2026-2027 school year.
Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training guides adjustment of enrollment results
To create convenience for parents, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training guides them to send aspirations to adjust enrollment results on the first-level enrollment portal.
Parents access the enrollment portal, select the "Enrollment Support" section, log in using the student's identification code, fill in all the content they need support and send it to the ward, commune or school enrollment council.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, based on feedback, review results and vacancy targets of schools, localities will propose additional enrollment. The supplementary enrollment for grades 1 and 6 is expected to be implemented after July 23.
