The abandoned school in Nghi An has welcomed students back to class.

Reopening at facility 2

The first day of school at Nghi An Secondary School began on Monday afternoon (December 1st) with the timetable for six classes: 6A, 7A, 7B, 7E, 7G, and 8A. According to the school's schedule, each class session at campus 2 will include three subjects from the following: Education, Art, Local Education, or enhanced English lessons.

Since all classes are scheduled in the afternoon, each week students only attend school at campus 2 for 1 to 2 sessions, eliminating the need to travel between the two locations. The school has also carefully considered the timetable arrangement to ensure convenience for both teachers and students, and to make it easier for parents to drop off and pick up their children. For 9th-grade students, they will still be accommodated at campus 1 to avoid disrupting their final exam preparation.

After his first lesson, Mr. Nguyen Kim Hung – the art teacher – said: "I teach two afternoons a week at campus 2, and the rest of the time I teach mornings at campus 1. In my first lesson with class 7B, only two students were absent with permission, the rest went on as usual. Although the classroom is cramped and difficult to move around in at the back, we basically managed to arrange enough desks and chairs for the students, ensuring two students per desk."

According to Mr. Hung, compared to the old facility, the new facility has spacious classrooms and comfortable desks, making teaching and learning much easier for both teachers and students. Therefore, in the long term, he hopes the local government will continue to invest in comprehensive facilities to relocate the entire school to one location, facilitating teaching and learning.

Avoid wasting resources.

The Nghi An Secondary School, campus 2, project, is invested by the People's Committee of Nghi An commune (formerly) and commenced in 2023 with a total budget of nearly 25 billion VND. The building includes a 3-story structure with 18 classrooms, covering a floor area of ​​over 1,900 m².², fences, gates, guard houses, and garages.

In October 2024, the school was completed; however, the beneficiary, Nghi An Secondary School (now located in Kim Son hamlet, Vinh Phu ward, about 1 km from campus 2), has not agreed to move in and operate, despite requests from the commune's People's Committee.

In the handover document, the school also clearly stated its position that the new campus only has 18 classrooms, and the number of desks and chairs in each classroom is insufficient to accommodate the current number of students in each class. The facilities even lack the minimum requirements to meet the teaching requirements of the 2018 General Education Program. During the handover process, the investor also failed to complete the electrical system and the access road to the school… The road leading to campus 2 is narrow and severely dilapidated (located within a planned residential land subdivision area, with no compensation yet paid for land clearance), causing difficulties for teachers and students.

For the same reason, months after the handover, the school remained closed and not yet operational. Meanwhile, the first campus was dilapidated, damaged, and lacked classrooms. Every month, the school also had to allocate additional budget to pay the security guard's salary.

On November 1, 2025, Nghe An's newspapers, radio, and television also published articles reflecting on the issue."A school built for tens of billions of dong is left abandoned?"Highlighting the shortcomings in the construction and operation of Nghi An Secondary School, campus 2.

Immediately afterwards, the Vinh Phu ward authorities also held a meeting to discuss plans for organizing teaching at the second campus, and at the same time, conducted surveys and listened to the opinions of officials, teachers, and parents to develop a suitable plan.

To prepare for smooth teaching at the second campus, the People's Committee of the ward has allocated funds to invest in purchasing facilities for 5 classrooms, each equipped with a computer and a television, and providing minimum supplies for the administrative offices at the second campus. In addition, the ward has also repaired and cleaned the road leading to the school, making it convenient for students, teachers, and residents to travel.

Yesterday, December 1st, during the first day of school, the leaders of Vinh Phu ward also came to inspect the teaching and learning organization and talked with the teachers and students of the school to understand the situation and their feelings in order to continue to address any remaining difficulties.

Ms. Le Viet Hong, Principal of Nghi An Secondary School, added: "When we started teaching at the second campus, the school was initially worried and hesitant. However, at this point, the preparation and implementation have stabilized, and parents also agree with the school's teaching plan. In the future, we hope the school will continue to receive investment to facilitate teaching and learning and meet the requirements of the new era."