Vietnam Need $481 Million for Classroom Consolidation by 2010

Vietnam is in need of an additional VND7.7 trillion ($481 million) to replace all temporary classrooms nationwide between now and 2010, the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) estimated.

The country launched a national plan to replace makeshift classrooms with permanent buildings with the total cost of more than VND9.3 trillion ($581million) sourced from the central and local budgets as well as donations from businesses and individuals. More than 74,000 classrooms have been built through the plan, benefiting three million children, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien Nhan at a conference in Hanoi August 23

Nhan, who is also Head of the school building plan's Steering Board, affirmed that the policy has helped promote equal access to education and reduce the gap among regions. However, he noted the cost has not been utilized efficiently by localities. Many provinces even wrongly used the allocated capital, pushing lots of school construction projects into sluggishness.

"Localities should pay more attention to the significance of the plan rather profits making from it," an official from the ministry said, revealing that tens of hundreds of children are still sitting in three-shifted and dilapidated classrooms.

Earlier, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung decided to allocate the remainder of the proceeds from bond issuance in 2005, worth VND112.71 billion ($7.04 million), to refurbish schools in three provinces, where schools have been hit hard by a host of natural disasters namely the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau, the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong and the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang.

Up to the 2005-2006 academic year, Vietnam had 2,300 secondary senior schools, 10,900 pre-schools, 14,700 primary schools, and 10,300 secondary junior schools. The country earmarks VND67 trillion ($4.2 billion) for education sector this year, a rise of more than 20% in comparison to 2006.