Nearly 300 workers and specialised machinery maintain round-the-clock construction at the Môn Sơn Integrated Boarding Primary and Lower Secondary School project in Môn Sơn Commune, Nghệ An Province. VNA/VNS Photo Bích Huệ

NGHỆ AN — Under the intense late-May sun in the central province of Nghệ An, where temperatures have climbed to almost 40 degrees Celsius, construction of new boarding schools along the border is continuing at full pace.

A 90-day peak construction drive has been launched by provincial authorities to ensure that 10 integrated boarding schools for primary and lower secondary students in border communes are completed before August 26.

The strategic project is expected to address long-standing educational challenges and significantly improve learning conditions for thousands of students in remote and mountainous border areas.

At the construction site of the Môn Sơn Integrated Boarding Primary and Lower Secondary School in Môn Sơn Commune, nearly 300 workers and specialised machines are operating around the clock.

Workers intensify construction efforts to complete the school projects before August 26. VNA/VNS Photo Bích Huệ

To race against time, many construction teams have been working overnight shifts. During large-scale concrete pours in particular, workers often remain on site until 4 or 5am to ensure technical standards and construction schedules are strictly maintained.

According to Võ Văn Minh, director of the Môn Sơn school construction project management board, the project broke ground in March 2026 and has now entered a critical sprint phase, to complete and hand over the facility within the next three months so students can begin classes at the start of the new academic year.

Facing intense time pressure, project managers have prioritised classrooms, dining facilities and boarding areas to meet students’ essential learning and living needs. Other supporting facilities, including the library, are currently undergoing concrete works, while the administration building, with a floor area of around 800–1,000 square metres, is entering the steel framework stage.

Construction of the multi-purpose hall has completed its piling phase and is moving into the foundation phase. The main courtyard area is also being accelerated to support collective activities, while an experimental garden behind the campus will be completed later.

At another major construction site in Keng Đu Commune, the Keng Đu Integrated Boarding Primary and Lower Secondary School project, with a total investment of more than VNĐ315 billion (US$11.9 million), is being built to accommodate 1,086 students across 43 classrooms.

All 11 building blocks and associated transport infrastructure are currently under simultaneous construction. However, the project is facing multiple obstacles, including shortages of locally sourced stone, soaring costs of transporting sand from distant areas, and persistent rainfall since early May, which has disrupted both construction and material transport.

Nguyễn Xuân Phong, a site management officer at the Keng Đu project, said all 11 components of the project have now taken shape, with classroom and dormitory buildings already entering the third and fourth-floor concrete stages.

“Despite extremely harsh conditions, material shortages and rising costs, our teams remain determined to complete the project on schedule thanks to previously stockpiled construction materials,” he said.

To realise the strategic goal, the Nghệ An Provincial Management Board for Civil and Industrial Construction Investment Projects officially launched the 90 Days and Nights of Peak Construction campaign on May 18.

Under the campaign roadmap, contractors are required to complete all structural work, including foundations, framework structures, masonry, roofing and major technical infrastructure within the first 50 days. The remaining 40 days will focus on finishing works such as tiling, painting, installation of electrical and plumbing systems and auxiliary facilities.

Representatives of the project management board stressed that the construction of the boarding school network in border communes is not merely an infrastructure project but a politically significant mission.

A simultaneous design-and-build approach has been adopted to maximise time efficiency and minimise delays during implementation. Once design documents pass appraisal, they are immediately transferred to construction sites for execution without delay.

Following a recent field inspection, Vice Chairman of the Nghệ An People’s Committee Thái Văn Thành urged the management board to maintain close supervision of contractors and further accelerate construction progress.

He stressed that speeding up construction must go hand in hand with stricter quality control and full compliance with workplace safety and sanitation standards.

Investors were also instructed to address difficulties related to funding and fluctuating construction material prices while promptly reporting issues beyond their authority to provincial leaders for resolution.

Contractors were urged to maximise their capabilities, deploy sufficient technical personnel and organise overtime shifts to ensure the border-region education projects are completed on schedule. — VNS