New-style boarding high schools: Still "waiting" for operational mechanisms after 3 years.
For over three years, a new boarding school model for high school students has been piloted in Nghe An province, providing opportunities for many ethnic minority and disadvantaged students to study and live at the school. However, the implementation process has also revealed shortcomings, causing difficulties for teachers and schools...
When school is home
With 126 well-equipped and modern dormitory rooms, each with a private bathroom, air conditioning, and accommodating 6-8 students,Ky Son High SchoolIt is the school with the most modern boarding facility in the province. The project, inaugurated at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, has brought hope to thousands of students in the mountainous region.
Since starting to welcome boarding students in March 2023, the sight of students living in cramped rooms around Ky Son High School has gradually diminished. Instead, more and more students are choosing to live in the school's dormitory.
Student Luong Hoang Vy, class 12C9, residing in Muong Tip commune, said that during his three years of high school, he felt fortunate to have spent most of his time in the school's boarding program: Compared to renting a room, boarding students have many advantages because we benefit from the provisions for ethnic minority students under Decree 66/2025/ND-CP, such as rice and lunch support. The facilities in the boarding program are also very good, spacious, clean, and safe. Being right on campus allows him to arrive early for class and prepare his lessons thoroughly.
Implementing the boarding school model, from 2023 to the present, more than 90 teachers at Ky Son High School have considered this school their second home, sharing meals and accommodation with their students. When we visited the school, even though it wasn't a regular evening class, all 32 classrooms were lit until after 10 PM. Along with that, 32 teachers and the school's management team took turns supervising and supporting students during self-study time.
Sharing about his work, Mr. Nguyen Van Dat added: "I am the homeroom teacher for a 12th-grade class with 28 boarding students, so the workload is heavier than in previous years. During the evening tutoring sessions, what we call student management is actually just tutoring, explaining lessons, and correcting assignments."
Although it was quite challenging, we felt happy and participated voluntarily because the boarding students at the school all have a good attitude towards learning, are diligent, and many of them have set their sights on getting into university.
Teacher Nguyen Van Dat - Ky Son High School
It's a day school but operates like a boarding school.
On October 24, 2022, the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued Decision 3279/QD-UBND approving the Project "Development of Education in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas in Nghe An Province, giai đoạn 2022 - 2025, with orientation to 2030". Accordingly, with the goal of focusing resources, creating breakthroughs, and aiming to improve the quality of education in ethnic minority areas, the province has also initiated the pilot implementation of a semi-boarding high school for ethnic minorities in Ky Son and Que Phong districts.
In accordance with this plan, at the beginning of 2023, Ky Son High School developed a five-year development plan for the school based on the new model of a boarding school for ethnic minorities, covering the period 2023-2028, with a vision to 2035.
The implementation of the boarding school model is also a desire of families, parents, and children in ethnic minority areas to have a good learning environment, ensuring adequate facilities, a safe environment, and security; with someone to manage and care for their living arrangements, studies, and training, based on the effective use of policies issued by the Party and the State that people and students are currently benefiting from, such as Decree 116/ND-CP (now Decree 66) and Decree 81/ND-CP.
To implement the boarding school model, immediately after commencing operations, Ky Son High School conducted a thorough assessment of its teaching staff, facilities, development strategy, and set goals for each stage. Simultaneously, the school put forward several recommendations and proposals to ensure the model's effectiveness. These included a request for the Department of Education and Training to advise the Provincial People's Committee to promptly issue policies on personnel mechanisms, financial support for electricity and water, a two-session-per-day teaching schedule, and investment in teaching equipment and boarding facilities.
Because this is an "unprecedented" model, the school's development is primarily based on existing experience, learning from ethnic minority boarding high schools in the province and ethnic minority boarding junior high schools in the area.
Over the past three years of implementation, due to the relatively new nature of the boarding school model, school management has sometimes faced difficulties and uncertainties, and in some areas, lacked scientific rigor. However, with the number of boarding students now nearly four times higher than in the first year, the model has shown positive results. As a result, the quality of teaching and learning at Ky Son High School has significantly improved in recent years, and the dropout rate has gradually decreased. Each year, the number of students entering grade 10 is higher than the previous year.
Despite the achievements, the new boarding school model is also facing some challenges.
Although we call it a day school, we operate more like a boarding school. In addition to morning classes, students attend afternoon classes at school and receive extra tutoring in the evenings. Furthermore, the school regularly organizes extracurricular activities and life skills programs.
Teacher Le Van Tao – Principal of Ky Son High School
The current difficulty is that the school has 44 classes but only 92 teachers, lacking 15 teachers as required by regulations. To implement the boarding school model, all teachers have to work extra hours and shifts, but they do not receive the same benefits and policies as those in boarding schools.
According to the school principal, because it is not yet a boarding school, the school's current operating budget is the same as other high schools in the area. Meanwhile, school expenses have increased significantly due to the implementation of the boarding program. Electricity alone costs 50-60 million VND per month. In previous years, the school received partial support from the local government, but there is still no plan for reimbursement.
Regarding the implementation of the new boarding school model, the school's leadership and relevant units have made numerous proposals for an effective operational mechanism. However, according to Circular 05/VBNH-BGDĐT on the regulations for the organization and operation of ethnic minority boarding schools and some current regulations, the boarding school model only applies to primary or lower secondary levels. Meanwhile, Ky Son High School is a high school for upper secondary students, so there is no basis for developing and implementing policies for the school, as well as for teachers and students, when applying the model in practice.
Besides Ky Son High School, the implementation and expansion of the model at Que Phong High School is also facing similar difficulties.
To maximize the effectiveness of the model, after more than three years of implementation, the Education sector needs to conduct a preliminary review, evaluation, analysis, and address any shortcomings. This will create a foundation for the model's sustainable development and truly become a second home and a support system for students in the mountainous areas of Nghe An province.
