From the 2025-2026 school year, if eligible, high schools will organize 2 teaching sessions/day to improve the quality of education, helping students have more time to study, practice physical exercise and develop talents.
However, many localities are still facing difficulties due to lack of schools, classrooms and teachers.
For example, at a school in Vinh Loc commune (HCMC), students in the whole school can only study 1 session/day.
According to the principal, students at the school are taking turns studying in the morning and afternoon. "Lack of facilities is the main reason why the school cannot implement 2 sessions/day and boarding for students. There are many students, while the school only has one main classroom area, leading to having to divide morning and afternoon shifts," he said.
According to the Department of Education and Training (DET) of Ho Chi Minh City, the city is stepping up the review and assessment of facilities at schools to promptly repair, renovate or invest in new ones.
For degraded items that can be repaired to maintain a longevity, the city will consider providing additional funding for communes, wards and towns to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the level of degradation of the project. On that basis, advise the professional unit as the investor to organize the bidding, select the unit to implement appropriate and timely repair and maintenance solutions, to ensure quality of use. At the same time, educational institutions are required to carry out periodic maintenance to avoid letting the project deteriorate again.
For items of works that are seriously degraded and at risk of being unsafe, the city will assign localities to proactively make proposals and report to the Department of Finance on the need for investment in construction to replace, repair large areas or reinforce existing works. This dossier will be submitted to competent authorities for consideration and budget allocation for early implementation, ensuring the safety of students and teachers.
According to the review report of the Department of Education and Training (DET) of Ho Chi Minh City, although the number of schools has increased rapidly in recent years, it is still not commensurate with the rate of population development.
The number of students in class is still high, especially in rapidly urbanizing areas, industrial parks, export processing zones - where the mechanical population has increased sharply. Many wards and communes still lack hundreds of classrooms; meanwhile, some places have little demand, causing an imbalance in distribution.
According to the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, the number of classrooms currently does not meet the rate prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training to be able to teach 2 sessions/day. Many schools were built a long time ago, have passed the age limit or are now degraded, no longer ensuring the safety of students and teachers.
According to statistics by June 2025, before the merger, Ho Chi Minh City had 297 classrooms/10,000 people of school age (3-18 years old). However, after the merger from July 2025, Ho Chi Minh City currently has an average of only 277 classrooms/10,000 people of school age.
In addition, Ho Chi Minh City also recorded 3,253 classrooms and department rooms that need repair and maintenance. At the same time, there are 125 educational institutions with seriously degraded construction items, posing a potential risk of insecurity. Most of these works have been built for more than 20 years, exceeding the age limit, so small repairs are no longer effective.
