On one side is a newly built spacious school, over 35,000 m2 wide, painted fresh, rooms nearly completed. On the other side are nearly 900 students who have to study in cramped, degraded conditions.
That paradox exists at Phong Hai Secondary School.
Phase 1 of the project is invested with more than 32 billion VND, mostly completed from the end of 2025. The project should have been put into operation, but is being abandoned due to lack of capital in phase 2.
And, the price of delay is not only the money spent being exposed to the sun and rain, but also the quality of education being affected every day.
Nearly 900 students, mostly children of highland ethnic minorities, still have to study in deprived conditions at the old facility.
Overloaded classrooms, cramped spaces, degraded facilities..., all directly affect teaching and learning.
Meanwhile, a new facility that meets the conditions is standing still, not yet put into operation.
Waste here is double waste.
The first is investment waste, tens of billions of VND have been spent but have not created efficiency.
Secondly, it is a waste of opportunities, opportunities to improve the quality of education for a generation of students that are missed.
What public opinion is concerned about is that waste will not stop, because when the project is completed, if not used, it will degrade over time.
At that time, to put it into operation, not only capital is needed for phase 2, but also additional expenses are required to repair items of phase 1 that are damaged.
Meaning the slower, the more expensive, a vicious cycle of waste can be seen in advance.
From a management perspective, this is an issue that needs to be seriously considered.
A public investment project cannot stop at "building the rough part", efficiency is only calculated when the project is put into use, serving the original goal.
If there is a lack of capital, there needs to be a priority plan, coordination, or timely supplementation, and the project cannot be left unfinished, while the need for use is very urgent.
Especially for education in mountainous areas, every opportunity to improve learning conditions is precious.
Students here have already suffered many disadvantages in learning conditions, if they continue to study in a cramped and deprived environment, the educational gap will be widened.
A new school is not only a material facility, but also a motivation for students to stick with their studies.
The only solution is to urgently allocate capital for phase 2, complete the missing items, and put the project into use as soon as possible.
One day late is one more wasteful day.
