Around the suspension of club activities in elementary schools

Accordingly, starting from April 8, many schools in the city will temporarily stop teaching club lessons in the late afternoon. Thus, the morning class time remains the same as before (starting at 7am), while in the afternoon students will only study 3 periods and leave between 3:45pm and 3:55pm depending on the school. Parents are requested to take and pick up students to school according to the prescribed time.

This new regulation is currently creating many opinions among parents. Some parents think that the regulation is difficult because many people cannot arrange to pick up and drop off their children before the end of administrative working hours. To pick up their children during this time, many parents have to make arrangements by temporarily stopping their work, asking to leave early or asking someone to pick them up. Ms. Pham Thi Phuong (Tan An Ward, Buon Ma Thuot City) shared that her office job requires her to finish work at 5 p.m., so she cannot come home early to pick up her child; she plans to hire a motorbike taxi to pick her child up from school to the company to avoid affecting her work. However, this is only a temporary solution because the company is a place to work, not a place to take care of children.

Recess time of students at Le Thi Hong Gam Primary School (Buon Ma Thuot City).

Meanwhile, other parents agreed with the suspension of the club's activities. For example, Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan (Tan An Ward) agreed with letting children leave school early. She said that her child is currently in 4th grade, is old enough to play by himself and also wants to go home early to participate in other activities with the family.

According to the education sector, for many years now, primary schools in the city have organized educational activities in the form of clubs (Math, Vietnamese, English, life skills) after school hours based on the voluntary spirit of parents and students. The fee each student pays ranges from 120,000 - 160,000 VND/month and is paid by school year or by month, depending on the school. Club activities are organized during the fourth period (afternoon) according to the 2018 General Education Program and instructions from the Department of Education and Training.

Parents pick up their children at Ngo Quyen Primary School (Buon Ma Thuot City) on the afternoon of April 8.

This activity has caused mixed opinions, some opponents think that participating in clubs is unnecessary, students have studied all day and need to go home early to rest; some supporters think that this will ensure the safety of the children and make it convenient for pick-up and drop-off. After that, schools continued to organize clubs in the fourth period in the afternoon on a voluntary basis, in reality many students did not participate.

When Circular 29 of the Ministry of Education and Training on management of extra teaching and learning was issued and took effect from February 14, 2025, the Department of Education and Training of Buon Ma Thuot City directed primary schools to return to parents the money collected related to club activities in schools; stop organizing clubs, extra teaching and learning in schools, waiting for instructions from the Provincial People's Committee.

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/xa-hoi/202504/chung-quanh-viec-tam-ngung-hoat-dong-cau-lac-botrong-truong-tieu-hoc-4ea196f/