News and Events

Many primary schools in HCM City face overcrowding because of the large number of children born in the lucky "Year of the Pig" (2007).

Close to 100,000 children born in 2007 have finished preschool and are now registering for the first grade. A number of districts are looking at a large and sudden increases in enrollment.

Primary schools in District 7 and the districts of Thu Duc, Tan Phu and Binh Tan have seen the highest number of immigrants.

The head of Tan Phu District’s Department of Education and Training, Ta Tan, said, “We're looking at between 6,500 and 7,000 children who will enter the first grade this year. Fortunately, our district has two new primary schools; Tan Hoa and Tan Thoi.”

Binh Thanh District also expects a rise in first-graders of about 1,000 compared to the year before, while District 5 is looking at a similar number of new enrollees. 

According to the Hanoi Department of Education and Training the city had 125,424 children born in 2007, all of whom will be entering the first grade, making for an increase of 11,000 from last year.

Ha Thanh Hai, Headmaster of Luong The Vinh Primary School in District 7, said, “Annually, the school can conduct seven to eight first grade classes that can compensate 40 to 50 students each. But this year the numbers will undoubtedly be higher because so many children were born in the 'year of the golden pig', and because so many parents try to get their children into prestigious schools."

Vo Ngoc Thu, head of the HCM City Department of Education and Training, said that because of the sharp rise in enrollment many schools will not reach their targets for class sizes.

Nguyen Minh Nguyet, Deputy Head of District 3’s Department of Education and Training, said that this year the schools would not be able to accommodate children of migrants, except for some 'special cases', such as those where the parents worked in the vicinity of the schools. He added that the school would restrict class sizes to 40 students.