Teacher 'asks for laptop', socialization of education, tutoring and extra classes become a hot topic.

Many pressing issues attracted public attention last year. Looking back at 2024, the education landscape has many bright spots, but some problems remain and are being addressed, with reasonable solutions being sought.

As 2024 draws to a close and we prepare to enter 2025, education in Ho Chi Minh City has shown many positive aspects.

Positive stories

One notable piece of good news is that Ho Chi Minh City has officially announced the waiver of tuition fees for junior high school students citywide starting from the 2024-2025 school year, with plans to waive tuition fees for preschool children under 5 years old and high school students from the 2025-2026 school year.

In 2024, Ho Chi Minh City summarized 10 years of implementing Project 5695 - teaching and learning mathematics, science , and English integrated with the English and Vietnamese curricula (co-sponsored by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training and EMG Education), with over 30,000 students participating over the past 10 years. For the first time, Ho Chi Minh City's preschool education sector organized a Preschool Education Day with thousands of teachers participating; this level also held a workshop on "Attracting Preschool Teachers"; and for the first time, organized a city-level competition for excellent teachers with the theme "Talented Teacher" for preschool teachers in independent preschools...

Another issue of concern is the increasing number of schools in Ho Chi Minh City spreading the "trend" of banning students from using mobile phones in school, in order to promote connection, physical activity, and exchange in real life instead of the virtual world of students.

Thanh Loc High School in District 12, a school without mobile phones, has been well-received by parents and students. This is a positive trend in education in 2024.

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY THE SCHOOL

Regarding the Tet holiday schedule, the story of parents and students complaining that "Ho Chi Minh City has too few Tet holidays this year" has attracted significant public attention. The issue enthusiastically raised by readers is whether to reduce summer vacation days and increase Tet holidays for urban students, especially those in Ho Chi Minh City – a city with a high proportion of migrant workers and a high demand for travel during Tet. Ho Chi Minh City listened to public feedback and subsequently added two more Tet holidays, bringing the total number of Tet holidays for students in 2025 to 11 days.

In 2024, many schools in Ho Chi Minh City underwent significant changes in listening to parents' voices, publicly and transparently sharing information about the quality of education with parents. These included activities such as Open Houses, open classrooms, open schools, inviting parents to eat meals with their children, visiting the kitchen, and learning alongside their children.

Looking back at 2024, bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new.

Besides the positive aspects, the education situation in Ho Chi Minh City in 2024 also has many pressing issues of concern. For example, the issue of excessive fees, with parent-teacher associations collecting fees that violate regulations in Circular 55 of the Ministry of Education and Training at some schools in the city. Public opinion raises the question of whether parent-teacher associations should be abolished to reduce controversies. Furthermore, the integration of joint programs into regular school hours continues to draw criticism from parents, as many schools have not properly implemented the principle of "voluntariness."

The incident of the teacher 'asking for support with a laptop' is gaining attention in education in 2024.

At the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, the story of a teacher "requesting support for a laptop" in a 4th grade class at a primary school in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, attracted millions of views on platforms such as Thanh Nien Online , YouTube, and the Thanh Nien Newspaper Fanpage. The teacher was disciplined with a warning and will be transferred to administrative work until the end of the 2024-2025 school year, no longer allowed to teach in the classroom.

From the way the teacher interpreted her request for a laptop as "socializing education," this isolated incident raises questions about what constitutes true socialization in education and how to achieve it without distortion. This has led not only District 1 but also numerous districts and the city of Thu Duc to issue strict directives regarding the transparency of initial school year fees, the rectification of parent-teacher association activities, and the improvement of fundraising efforts in education, ensuring compliance with Circulars 55 and 16 of the Ministry of Education and Training. Principals of schools criticized by the media are required to report and conduct self-criticism; those found in violation will face severe penalties.

Many primary school students in Ho Chi Minh City still rush to extra classes every evening, even though they already attend school for two sessions a day.

The issue of extra tutoring has been a hot topic for many years, with many students, even those attending school for two sessions a day, still rushing to attend extra classes. In fact, observations in Ho Chi Minh City show that elementary school students still carry their bags to extra classes every evening, often forgetting about family meals... despite Circular No. 17/2012/TT-BGDĐT dated May 16, 2012, Article 4 clearly stipulating cases where extra tutoring is not allowed, such as for students already attending school for two sessions a day; and for elementary school students, except for tutoring in arts, sports, and life skills.

However, in 2024, when the Ministry of Education and Training announced a new draft regulation on tutoring with many new and more flexible points than the old circular, including allowing teachers to tutor their own students, the issue of tutoring continued to receive attention and attracted a large number of readers on Thanh Nien Newspaper's platforms. Many people supported allowing teachers to properly tutor because tutoring is a real need. Another viewpoint still argued that teachers should be prohibited from tutoring their own students to avoid negative consequences in education. In this context, in December 2024, many districts of Ho Chi Minh City continued to issue documents requiring teachers to strictly comply with Circular No. 17/2012/TT-BGDĐT on tutoring, strictly prohibiting tutoring in violation of regulations.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhin-lai-2024-co-giao-xin-laptop-xa-hoi-hoa-giao-duc-nong-day-them-hoc-them-185241224164714712.htm