Editor's note:

Extra classes are becoming an invisible and unavoidable pressure for many families. VietNamNet opens the forum Extra Class Pressure with the hope of recording and discussing this story in depth with readers.

We look forward to receiving feedback from parents, teachers, students and educational administrators about practical experiences, lessons learned and proposed new solutions to this issue of great social concern.

The article below is the concern of a parent in Hanoi .

I have 3 children, the eldest is in 11th grade at a school in Nam Tu Liem, Hanoi. My children and my family are striving to get into a major medical university.

To reach this goal, I have been trying my best. Since grade 10, in addition to school time, I have studied 4 subjects: Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology. Each subject lasts 2-3 hours/session, costing 240-250 thousand VND.

Since entering 11th grade, my child's extra classes have included 2 English sessions per week to prepare for the IELTS exam, increasing his chances of being admitted to university. The total monthly cost for my child's extra classes is more than 7 million VND.

According to plan, in November 2025, I will take the IELTS test, in March 2026 I will participate in the Aptitude and Thinking Assessment Test, then I will spread my application, take the university entrance exam...

So, every week, in addition to the mornings and 2 afternoons at school, my child has 6 extra classes in the evening and all day on Sunday. There are some classes that are more than 10km from home, I do not feel comfortable letting my child ride the electric bike by himself, and I cannot take him to school because I have to worry about taking care of 2 children in 6th and 4th grade after work, so I have to hire a motorbike taxi for him.

There are days when my child has 5 classes in the morning, 4 in the afternoon, then rushes to study for 3 hours in the evening - not having time to eat at home, having to eat on the way. Feeling sorry for my child's hard work, I always try to think of what to feed him to ensure his health. In addition to the usual meat and fish dishes, every week I maintain a full meal for my child with salmon because I heard this dish is rich in fat, which is good for the brain.

I see that my child studying a lot is hard, but if he does not study like that, he will fall behind more and more. The important thing is that he wants to study and even asks to take extra classes because he is afraid of being inferior to his friends and not being able to get into the school of his choice.

A few days ago, when my son had just finished his first midterm exam, I asked him: “Did you do well on the test? What do you think your score will be?” He replied innocently: “How would I know? Won’t you let me be happy until the day I know my score?”

When I tried to argue: "You go to extra classes all the time outside, but you're not sure you can do well on the school exams, how can you compete in the real world?", the boy replied: "Mom, you thought I was the only one going to extra classes! Now the school knows that all students go to extra classes so they set difficult exams. Now everyone is the same!"

In fact, looking around, I rarely see children who do not go to extra classes, especially those who are about to enter stressful exams such as high school or university. Just 2 years ago, my child and 2 of his friends had 2 sessions every week until 10-11pm at the math teacher's house, then 4-5 other sessions until 9-10pm to finish reviewing Literature and English. My child's friend also went to 2 different teachers for each subject, one to practice questions, the other to review knowledge.

My children and my whole family just breathed a sigh of relief when they entered high school, and immediately got back into the groove of preparing for the university entrance exam. Well, think positively, going to extra classes is also an opportunity for children to broaden their horizons, to see that there are many talented friends out there, they have to try harder, not just seeing themselves at the top of the class is enough to feel secure.

I told my child to consider studying as a job, if he wants to advance, if he wants to be better than others, he has to work hard. Moreover, if he wants to study and work in the medical field, he needs to get used to the constant cycle, never giving up.

In fact, if your child is not very outstanding or studies in a specialized high school or a top school, without any national or international awards, he or she must work hard to get into a top university. If he or she studies superficially and goes to a mediocre school, it will still be expensive, and the future is unknown.

When looking at the children's busy extra-curricular schedules, many people often complain that we are creating learning machines, making our children lose their childhood. But let's ask, if we don't participate in this cycle, where will our children stand? We also want our children to relax, to be together as a family on the weekends, simply going out for ice cream, going back to the countryside to visit grandparents instead of the children running around to take extra classes, the father working as a "xe om", the mother doing housework... But we have no other choice? My family hasn't had a meal together for a long time.

Audience Khanh Xuan (Hanoi)

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Why do students need extra classes? Regarding the fact that the Ministry of Education and Training is drafting a circular regulating extra teaching and learning, some opinions are concerned that the 2018 general education program was introduced with many innovations and advantages, so why do students still need extra classes?