With district-level authorities taking inordinately long to approve construction of new schools, HCM City is facing a shortage which is exacerbated by the unavailability of land, according to the municipal Department of Education and Training.

The number of students is increasing by 50,000-60,000 a year and to meet this demand, the city needs to add 1,250-1,500 classrooms annually. But it built 800 new classrooms last year and just 607 this year.

As a result District 9, for instance, has to use other sites like the Children’s House and Cultural House as schools.

Nguyen Ngoc Quan of the District 2 Fatherland Front said the number of migrants had increased so rapidly that the district did not have enough schools.

Binh Tan District requires 10 more primary schools.

Huynh Cong Minh, head of the department, said the main reason for the shortage of schools was the city’s failure to allot land for building new ones.

Nguyen Van Ngai, former head of the department, said the city administration should also review the procedures involved in building schools since they were too drawn-out.

Building enough classrooms to fulfill a target set by the Ministry of Education and Training will cost the city around VND80-100 trillion (US$4.3 – 5.4 billion).