Children go to school on Saturday morning, parents cry out!

In the 2025-2026 school year, many secondary schools in Ho Chi Minh City will schedule students to go to school on Saturday mornings.

A STEM lesson for 7th grade students of class 7A1 at Ly Phong Secondary School, An Dong Ward, Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: NHU HUNG

Meanwhile, from Monday to Friday, school ends at 4 PM.

It's tough dealing with advanced schools.

"In previous school years, my child never had to go to school on Saturdays. On weekends, I sent him to basketball practice and English classes at a center. For the 2025-2026 school year, the school has scheduled classes that require students to attend Saturday mornings."

Moreover, from Monday to Friday, school ends at just after 4 PM, and since we haven't finished work by then, how can we pick up our children?

I spoke with the homeroom teacher and learned that this year the school is implementing the Ministry of Education and Training's regulation of teaching two sessions per day.

"The daily timetable is not allowed to exceed 7 lessons, whereas last year students had 8 lessons per day," reflected Ms. T., a parent at Ly Phong Secondary School in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly District 5), one of the secondary schools implementing the advanced, integrated model.

Similarly, Ms. Tram, a parent whose child is studying at Hoa Lu Secondary School in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Thu Duc), also said: "Hoa Lu Secondary School is one of the advanced and integrated schools in Ho Chi Minh City."

Schools implementing this model will apply enhanced programs with subjects such as a second foreign language, international computer science, STEM, and life skills.

This means there are more subjects than in the standard curriculum. This forces the school to schedule an additional 4-5 lessons on Saturday mornings when implementing the regulation of a maximum of 7 lessons per day.

This issue affects students' rest, family life, and participation in extracurricular activities and weekend trips .

Not to mention that when the school has 4 classes in the morning and 3 in the afternoon, students finish school at 3:45 PM, which makes it difficult for parents to pick up their children, especially for families with young children in different grade levels, because most of us parents work and finish school at the same time.
Around 5 PM.

According to Ms. Huynh Thi Kim Oanh, principal of Ly Phong Secondary School, an advanced, integrated school must adhere to the regulations of this model regarding the teaching of computer science and foreign languages, ensuring "output" meets international standards, teaching STEM, life skills, and physical education.
Choose your own...

Last school year, the school was allowed a maximum of 8 lessons per day, which was not a problem. This year, the new regulation of only 7 lessons per day is causing difficulties for the school. Currently, the enhanced English classes have to attend extra classes on Saturday mornings, while the remaining classes only study from Monday to Friday."

Regarding students leaving school early, Ms. Oanh shared: "The school also faces a lot of pressure when students leave school but their parents haven't been able to pick them up yet. We have to arrange an area called a 'waiting area' for students to sit and wait for their parents for 45 minutes, and at the same time assign someone to supervise them."

Even those who aren't advanced students still have classes on Saturdays.

But it's not just advanced, integrated schools; many other junior high schools in Ho Chi Minh City also schedule classes requiring students to attend on Saturday mornings.

"When we saw the timetable included Saturday morning classes, we immediately raised our concerns with the homeroom teacher, but we only received the answer that the school was following the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training."

I disagree with the above explanation. The regulations on teaching two sessions per day, with no more than seven lessons per day, are intended to reduce the workload for students. However, the school forcing students to attend classes on Saturdays is increasing the workload for both students and teachers.

Looking at our child's timetable, we found that there are five subjects in the school curriculum for which parents have to pay separate tuition fees: STEM, international computer science, life skills, arts and crafts, and English with a native English-speaking teacher.

"Everything is included in the regular school timetable. Why not reduce the number of subjects in the school curriculum so that students don't have to study on Saturdays?", a group of parents of 8th graders at Le Van Tam Secondary School (formerly Binh Thanh District) expressed their frustration.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre newspaper , a leader of Le Van Tam Secondary School said: "The school schedules students' timetables according to Circular No. 4567 of the Ministry of Education and Training regarding teaching two sessions per day."

The school's timetable for junior high school students includes a minimum of 5 days/week and a maximum of 11 sessions/week, with no more than 7 lessons per day, each lesson lasting 45 minutes. The subjects included in the school's curriculum are also those permitted by the Department of Education and Training.

It's true that schools aren't wrong to schedule extra classes for students on Saturday mornings, as that amounts to exactly 11 sessions per week.

However, the Ministry of Education and Training stipulates that the general education program for students in grades 6 and 7 only has 29 lessons per week, while students in grades 8 and 9 only have 29.5 lessons per week.

Schools teach seven lessons from Monday to Friday, totaling 35 lessons over five days. Therefore, even without Saturday morning classes, schools can still incorporate 5.5 to 6 lessons per week of school curriculum, depending on the grade level.

Everyone knows that the current school program is too easy to implement. It's a program without tests or assessments like other subjects. All it takes is partnering with educational businesses outside the school and parents agreeing to pay tuition fees, and it can be implemented.

The requirement for students to attend extra classes on Saturday mornings shows that schools are being overly ambitious, cramming too many subjects and lessons from the school curriculum into the regular timetable.

Does the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training know about this? Or is it precisely because the department doesn't set a maximum number of lessons or subjects per grade level that schools are free to include in their timetables?

* Ms. Hanh (parent in Duc Nhuan ward, Ho Chi Minh City):

There should be a special mechanism for advanced schools.

Previously, students had 8 lessons a day, so I didn't pay much attention. Now that my daughter has to attend Saturday morning classes, I want to request that she be removed from this advanced, integrated school. The Saturday morning classes are taking away time she could have for sports , extracurricular activities, and foreign languages.

I suggest that the Ministry and Department of Education give advanced, integrated schools a separate mechanism. With strict requirements regarding "output," these schools should be allowed to teach 8 lessons per day, instead of 7 lessons like other regular schools.

Can we skip classes on Saturdays?

A life skills lesson for students at Nguyen Van To Secondary School, Ho Chi Minh City. This is an advanced, integrated school, but students do not have to attend extra classes on Saturdays - Photo: NHU HUNG

The answer is yes, because many junior high schools in Ho Chi Minh City have already implemented this and it has received support from parents.

At Nguyen Du Secondary School in Ben Thanh Ward, all grades 6, 7, 8, and 9 only have classes from Monday to Friday.

In the morning, students start school at 7:30 AM. After four lessons, school ends at 11:00 AM. This is followed by lunchtime and a break. The first lesson of the afternoon begins at 1:30 PM, and students will attend three lessons, finishing at 4:10 PM.

Mr. Cao Duc Khoa, principal of Nguyen Du Secondary School, shared: "In the near future, we plan to open several after-school clubs such as a robotics club, football club, basketball club, table tennis club... for students who are unable to leave school by 4:10 PM."

"This is an after-school club; parents can register if they wish, otherwise they don't. The clubs are expected to end at 5 PM, making it convenient for parents to drop off and pick up their children."

Similarly, at Nguyen Van To Secondary School (formerly District 10), despite being a school implementing an advanced, integrated model, students still only attend classes from Monday to Friday.

A school leader said the school had submitted its educational plan and financial plan to the People's Committee of the ward. After the plan is approved, the school will organize a consultation with parents on two options.

Option 1: Students still attend 7 lessons per day as per regulations. After the 7th lesson, there will be an advanced program focusing on STEM, life skills, physical education, etc., ensuring that classes end at 4:30 PM or 4:45 PM. Option 2: If classes are held on Saturday mornings, then classes from Monday to Friday will end at 3:45 PM.

"Regardless of the chosen learning method, parents will not have to pay extra fees for advanced subjects, as these subjects are already included in the advanced, integrated tuition fee," this person said.

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HOANG HUONG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/con-di-hoc-sang-thu-bay-phu-huynh-keu-troi-20250908230250321.htm