Many schools are changing their faces to welcome the new school year.

Ensure school facilities

As a special commune of Nghi Loc district, for many years Nghi Phuong has been considered a difficult area of ​​the district. This has also partly affected the quality of teaching and learning, because in reality, compared to many other localities; the care and attention to education here still has certain limitations.

However, that was a story of previous years. At this time, in Nghi Phuong commune, the system of kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools is gradually "changing its skin". As for Nghi Phuong Secondary School, after many efforts, the school has just been recognized as a national standard school and the welcoming ceremony will be held right on the occasion of the new school year opening. Currently, the school's facilities have been invested in with enough classrooms and functional rooms according to the new standards. The school campus is also taken care of, cleaned and has enough space for students to play and study.

Nghi Phuong Secondary School prepares textbooks for the new school year. Photo: My Ha

To achieve this result, over the past year, with support from the district, the commune budget and contributions from local people, the commune has mobilized more than 6 billion VND to invest in school facilities. Up to now, over 90% of the school's classrooms have been invested in large-screen TVs and sliding boards to serve teaching and learning. All classrooms are equipped with sun-blocking curtains, fans, and trees to create a cheerful atmosphere in each classroom. Teacher Nguyen Cong Son - Principal of the school added: Compared to other localities, our school's social mobilization has its own characteristics and difficulties. Therefore, instead of socializing the whole school, we assign responsibility to each class and the implementation of socialization is carried out by parents right in the classroom to serve their children. Therefore, parents all agree, support and join hands with the school to take care of students.

Nghi Hoa Kindergarten is also located in a special area with many difficulties. However, the school is currently preparing the final steps to be recognized as a national standard school at level 2. Looking at the spacious buildings, spacious campus, each corner of the classroom, and beautifully tended trees, teacher Trinh Thi Hai Yen - Principal of the school said: More than a year ago, our school was still in a state of disrepair, damage, and lacked enough classrooms and functional rooms. However, after the commune government invested 13 billion VND to build new facilities, the appearance of the school has completely changed. This is the basis for us to be recognized as a standard school and gradually improve the quality of teaching and childcare.

Nghi Hoa Kindergarten was invested 13 billion VND to build a level 2 standard school. Photo: My Ha

Before the new school year, Nghi Loc district invested about 200 billion VND to invest in facilities and purchase teaching equipment. Thanks to that, the district's standard school rate has reached over 92% and is among the top in the province. In addition, to prepare for the new general education program, Nghi Loc is one of the few localities that spends over 1.5 billion VND each year for schools to purchase teaching equipment (in addition to the regular budget).

Mr. Nguyen Van Thong - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Nghi Loc district also said: To implement the new general education program, from the beginning of 2021, Nghi Loc has built a separate program on Improving the quality of education and training in the district, meeting the requirements of fundamental and comprehensive innovation in education and training. Therefore, in the past 2 years, the district has had many solutions to concentrate resources to invest in facilities, purchase teaching equipment and assign responsibilities to each locality, each department and branch. The district also requires communes and towns to mobilize resources, prioritize budget from land funds to invest in facilities and equipment for educational activities; expand school campus area to meet the scale of development, improve the quality of education and build schools that meet national standards.

Every year, localities must organize an assessment of the progress of the Plan's implementation, adjust and supplement solutions suitable to reality and requirements for fundamental and comprehensive educational innovation.

As for Dien Ngoc Primary School (Dien Chau), the new school year has brought double the joy. As one of the communes with the largest number of students in the district with 1,660 students and 45 classrooms, if the previous school year lacked classrooms and the facilities were degraded, this year with socialized resources and investment from projects, the school has been newly built, expected to put into use 12 classrooms in November with a total value of nearly 12.3 billion VND. Teacher Cao Thi Thuy - Principal of Dien Ngoc Primary School said: Last school year, there was a lack of classrooms, so the school taught 2 sessions a day, organized from Monday to Saturday, each session has 5 periods. This new school year, the full facilities help the school ensure teaching and learning, especially better implementing the 2018 general education program.

Dien Cat Secondary School (Dien Chau) has just been invested in and built to meet national standards. Photo: My Ha

The 2022-2023 school year is the year that Dien Phuc commune (Dien Chau) focuses on investing heavily in education. The investment plan for projects in the commune from 2021-2025 is 104 billion VND, of which education alone accounts for over 70 billion VND. Currently, the commune has planned a new and built a kindergarten of 19,000 m2.², cost 60 billion VND with 30 classrooms. In addition, repairing playground, head office, expanding primary school area with cost 10 billion VND.

Selective and focused investment

Instead of spreading investment, in recent years, investment in school facilities has been selected and invested in concentratedly by localities. For example, in Tuong Duong district, after just over a year, the district has completed construction at Yen Tinh Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities and Luu Kien Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities and has become one of the most well-invested schools today with enough classrooms, functional rooms, dormitories, and public housing for teachers and students of the school. The methodical and concentrated investment also helps schools to soon complete the criteria of national standard schools, avoiding the situation of prolonged patchwork and rapid deterioration.

Luu Kien Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities has been invested in synchronously and spaciously. Photo: My Ha

Mr. Kha Van Lap - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Tuong Duong district said: In recent years, Tuong Duong district has reviewed and allocated reasonable budget resources to improve facilities for schools. In particular, priority is given to focusing on minimum equipment for implementing the new general education program. Along with that, attention is paid to equipping facilities to serve the needs of applying technology to management, teaching and learning organization, education, etc., in a synchronous, modern and appropriate direction to actual needs.

In the last school year, the People's Committee of Thanh Chuong district also prioritized funding sources to build additional and upgrade facilities for schools with a capital of more than 53 billion VND. Thanks to that, 33 new cultural classrooms, 44 study rooms, 8 toilets and many other auxiliary works were built. The mobilization of purchasing for classrooms was also carried out by schools beyond the plan. Thanks to that, from the number of only 3 primary schools and 2 secondary schools with 8 smart TVs in the whole district, up to now, 100% of primary schools, secondary schools and high schools have installed TVs and sliding boards for all classes. The total investment for installation is nearly 26 billion VND.

An extracurricular activity of Thanh Chuong district students. Photo: CSCC

Previously, according to a survey by Thanh Chuong district, the entire district's teaching equipment was mostly degraded, meeting only 40% of the demand. To overcome this situation, the district issued many documents focusing on preparing facilities, teaching equipment and directing the Finance - Planning Department to coordinate with the Education and Training Department to balance the budget expenditure to allocate to educational institutions in the district. At the same time, the District People's Committee worked with relevant sectors and agreed on the policy of directing localities and schools to implement solutions to mobilize social resources.

To ensure successful implementation, Mr. Le Dinh Thanh - Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee also said: After assigning responsibilities to each locality, we have annual inspections and assessments. At the end of the year, if any locality does not prioritize the budget or invest in education, it will be reminded. Therefore, over the past 2 years, education and infrastructure investment in Thanh Chuong district have changed dramatically.

With many positive solutions and the joint efforts of the whole society, the appearance of schools in the province has gradually changed. Up to now, the total number of solid classrooms in preschools and general schools is 21,960; of which, preschools have 5,844 classrooms (78.3%); primary schools have 8,871 classrooms (79%); secondary schools have 4,688 classrooms (89.47%); high schools have 2,557 classrooms (96.64%). The rate of standard schools in the whole province is over 70%.

Currently, Nghe An is also reviewing and advising on balancing budget sources at all levels, prioritizing investment to ensure minimum facilities and teaching equipment for grades 1, 2, and 6; completing phase 1 investment in building Phan Boi Chau Specialized High School; implementing a project to mobilize social resources to support general schools with ethnic boarding and semi-boarding students... At the same time, continuing to call for socialization to invest in upgrading facilities, gradually building standard, spacious, and beautiful schools to meet teaching and learning requirements in the new school year./.