Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi has approved VND1.5 trillion ($76.92 million) to upgrade 5,523 downgraded classrooms, state media reported Oct 14, citing an official. The city’s move is aimed to meet the rising demand for better schools after its border expansion in August 2008, contributing to improve the education quality, said Do Dinh Hong, vice chief of Hanoi People’s Committee Secretariat. Hanoi is facing the disproportion between urban and rural school system as the city’s investments into facilities in inner-city educational institutions are much higher than those in suburban areas. In outlying districts of Ba Vi and Ung Hoa which are about 40 kilometers from the city’s center, many pupils are having lessons in downgraded classrooms without teaching aid and reference books. (Tuoi Tre - Youth Oct 14 p4)
