The new standards for general education accreditation applied as of January 2013 have made schools puzzled, because they don’t know what they have to do to be recognised as the national standard schools.
Analysts have warned that only a few schools would meet the newly set up standards. The requirements on education quality are not a problem for schools, but most of them would not be able to satisfy the requirements on the material facilities and other technical issues.
The new regulation stipulates that a standard school must have no more than 35 students in every primary education class and 45 students in every secondary education class. The total area of schools must be large enough to have at least six square meters for a student in urban areas and 10 square meters for a student in other areas.
Most of the surveyed schools have expressed their worry that the schools may not be recognized as the national standard schools, since the new standards prove to be overly high for them.
In 2008-2012, when the Ministry of Education and Training examined and accredited general schools, nine schools in HCM City got certificates.
The headmaster of the Nguyen Thuong Hien High School has also expressed her worry about the application of the new standards, even though it is a “star” school in HCM City with high education quality and good material facilities.
Being a prestigious school, Nguyen Thuong Hien is very choosy about their students. Only the best secondary school graduates can be admitted to the school, because it always sets very high required marks from the school entrance exams. The school has obtained the certificate on meeting the third level (the highest) in education quality.
However, Ho Cam Thanh, Headmaster of the school, still keeps worried about the number of students in every class. Under the new standards, a class must not have more than 45 students, while the figure at Nguyen Thuong Hien is higher than the allowed level.
In Go Vap district, four secondary schools Nguyen Van Troi, Phan Tay Ho, Thong Tay Hoi and Nguyen Van Nghi, have been recognized as meeting the quality standards. However, only Phan Tay Ho School can meet the standards in the area of school (6 square meter per student), and no school can meet the standards in the number of students in every class.
Tran Phu Thao, Headmaster of the Nguyen Van Troi Secondary School, said it is foreseeable that no school is large enough to satisfy the requirements on the areas.
“Go Vap is the district with high population. Therefore, it is quite normal to see more than 50 students in every class,” he said.
Impractical standards?
According to Nguyen Van Vuong, Headmaster of the Nguyen Gia Thieu Secondary School in Tan Binh district, 50 percent of the schools in the city were built 40 years ago, which have become too small and unsuitable to the current conditions. Meanwhile, the number of students going to school has been increasing rapidly. Therefore, the standards set by the Ministry of Education and Training proves to be unattainable.
About Nguyen Gia Thieu School, Vuong said the school has 2,100 students, which means that the school needs to have the area of 12,000 square meters. Meanwhile, the current area is just 9,000 square meters. The school yard is very small, while there is no sports playground.