While the truth behind the Quang Ngai education department’s haphazard investment in a number of bizarrely expensive school restrooms remains a mystery, it has also been discovered that the department gave a new, costly toilet to a school which already has two functioning facilities.

Besides its old bathroom, Long Son primary school, located in Minh Long District, now has two more restrooms provided by the province’s education department through funding from two different programs.

One of them is worth nearly VND600 million (US$28,846), built under the agriculture ministry’s program for hygiene and clean water, as were other extravagant school restrooms that have made national headlines over the last week.

The other, costing some VND1 billion, was sponsored by the School Education Quality Assurance Program.

School master Vo Chi Tu said the design, construction, supervision, and contractor selection was carried out by the department.

“We did nothing, and just received the facility when it was completed,” he said.

Tu added, “When the department announced that the school would have a new toilet, I reported that we already had an old and a new facility, and what we need is new learning equipment and classrooms.”

“But the department insisted on building the new restroom, and how could we reject?”

The Quang Ngai education department has invested in 24 clean water facilities and restrooms since 2010, costing more than VND12.27 billion, according to a report.

The minimum cost of a bathroom is VND300 million, and the highest is VND750 million.

These huge amounts have raised doubts among the public, as it normally costs only VND100 million to build what have been described as facilities with low-quality equipment from unknown manufacturers.

Most of the recipients of the new bathrooms are run-down schools that badly need to have their learning equipment inventories updated and their classrooms upgraded.

For instance, the Hanh Thinh primary school in Nghia Hanh District, has been asking for funds to repair its classrooms that were built 20 years ago, 60 percent of which are deteriorated.

“But what we got is a new restroom that costs a whopping VND593 million,” school master Nguyen Thi Lan said.

The facility was put into use last year, but its pumping system has repeatedly broken down, Lan said.

The principal said the restroom may have cost more than it should, while expressing pity that the money could not have been used for other essential purposes.

“Had the bathroom cost only VND100 million, we would have had nearly VND500 million to buy new furniture for the students, which only costs VND1 million per chair and desk set,” she said.

‘High technology’

In answering questions from the media over the issue, Do Van Phu, deputy director of the education department, said: “It cost so much to build the restrooms because the contractors must stick to the designs that use advanced technology as required by the foreign sponsors.”

However, Nguyen Manh Hung, head of the committee for cultural and social affairs of the provincial People’s Council, said the programs have been initiated and funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, not foreign partners.

Hung was a member of the council’s inspectorate team that discovered the extravagant restrooms.

The people’s council will continue to inspect and review the school restroom projects in six mountainous districts to evaluate their investment appropriateness and effectiveness, he said.

“The result will be reported at the council’s meeting at the end of this year,” he added.