The new school year has officially begun at Nguyen Van Troi Secondary School in Ho Chi Minh City, which boasts the largest student enrollment in Vietnam. This year, the school has 112 classes with approximately 5,200 students, yet it only has 56 classrooms available, leading to severe overcrowding.

Principal Nguyen Trung Toan noted that due to the limited campus space, only about 3,000 students could attend the opening ceremony. The school primarily serves students from nearby industrial zones, with many children of workers relocating to the area. For years, the district has had five elementary schools but only one secondary school, resulting in a significant influx of sixth graders to Nguyen Van Troi.

With a campus area of around 20,000 square meters, students are nearly filling every available space. This year, the sixth grade alone has 32 classes, making it the largest cohort with 1,400 students. Despite the growth, the school is operating beyond the Ministry of Education and Training's guideline of a maximum of 45 classes per secondary school.

To accommodate the increasing number of students, some sixth graders have been redistributed to schools in the neighboring Thuận Giao district. If this had not occurred, the total number of classes could have exceeded 120. Each classroom, approximately 60 square meters in size, often houses nearly 50 students, and due to the limited number of classrooms, students attend school in shifts without the option of lunch services.

The school employs 153 teachers but is short by 50, particularly in music, art, computer science, citizenship education, history, and geography. To manage the lack of staff, the school has combined classes for music and art lessons. Additionally, a former laboratory has been repurposed to create more classroom space.

This academic year, a temporary computer room has been set up in the teachers' parking area, and the library, along with two old computer rooms, has been reorganized to maximize classroom availability. The bustling atmosphere during the opening day saw students enjoying traditional games and activities in the schoolyard.

During student drop-off and pick-up times, traffic congestion is a common issue outside the school. Local security personnel are deployed in shifts to manage the flow of vehicles. One parent, Nguyen Tinh, expressed concern over the lack of a boarding option, stating that many parents, primarily workers, must arrange for their children to stay elsewhere in the afternoons. She hopes the district will establish another secondary school to alleviate the overcrowding.

In August, a local official mentioned plans to quickly expand classroom facilities and build a new secondary school and an elementary school between 2028 and 2030. Ho Chi Minh City is recognized as a major educational hub in Vietnam, with over 2.6 million students, an increase of more than 96,000 from the previous year. Despite adding over 1,000 new classrooms, the city still faces localized shortages, particularly in the old Bình Dương area.