Teaching 2 sessions/day: Still a challenge

Photo caption — Hanoi students review for the 10th grade entrance exam. Photo: Thanh Tung/VNA

In addition to the goal of comprehensive development for students, studying 2 sessions/day also aims to improve the quality of regular school hours, overcoming the situation of illegal extra teaching and learning. However, this policy poses many challenges, and currently schools in Hanoi are proactively removing difficulties to make the policy truly effective.

Skill training, comprehensive development

According to the guidance of the Ministry of Education and Training , teaching 2 sessions/day will be mandatory at the primary level from the 2025-2026 school year. For middle and high schools, the implementation is encouraged, depending on the actual conditions of each locality. Teaching 2 sessions/day is organized in a way that clearly distinguishes between session 1 and session 2 to ensure scientific, flexible and comprehensive development of students.

In this policy, the junior high school level is considered the focus because this is the stage when students are developing strongly in terms of awareness, skills and starting to have career orientation. Accordingly, schools are allowed to organize a maximum of 11 sessions/week, each day no more than 7 periods, each period 45 minutes. The first session is for the main curriculum, the second session focuses on tutoring students who have not met the standards, nurturing excellent students, reviewing for final exams, consolidating knowledge, skills education , experiences, sports, arts, reading culture, financial education, digital technology and learning about local history and culture...

The Ministry of Education and Training also stipulates that no fee will be charged for the second lesson to ensure fairness and reduce the financial burden on students' families. Funding will be guaranteed by the local budget, and can be mobilized from socialized sources according to regulations.

In Hanoi, organizing 2 sessions/day at the primary level is not new. In fact, 100% of primary schools organize 2 sessions/day. At the secondary level, about 60% of schools are qualified to organize 2 sessions/day. At the high school level, the percentage of schools qualified to organize 2 sessions/day is still modest, mainly concentrated in private schools. Schools focus on investing in facilities and designing flexible programs, linked to students' career orientation.

Principal of Nam Phuong Tien B Secondary School (Xuan Mai Commune) Pham Thi Thu Ha said: “Organizing 2 sessions/day brings many advantages to students and their families. Students have more time in class to consolidate knowledge and practice skills instead of just studying cultural subjects. For families, the fact that their children can study 2 sessions for free is really meaningful, especially for families in rural areas.”

Ms. Vu Anh Nguyet, whose child is in class 8A13, Nghia Tan Secondary School (Nghia Do ward), said that teaching 2 sessions/day brings convenience to parents in the class.

“Previously, Nghia Tan Secondary School only taught 2 sessions/day for grades 6 and 7. From this school year, grades 8 and 9 will also be boarding at the school, which helps us feel more secure when our children can rest safely at noon and study extra knowledge in the afternoon,” Ms. Vu Anh Nguyet shared.

Many difficulties in the implementation process

Although receiving the consent of the majority of parents and students, and at the same time being in line with the requirements of educational innovation, in reality, organizing 2 sessions/day in Hanoi encounters many difficulties and challenges during the implementation process.

In many schools, the second session has been mainly devoted to cultural subjects, while skills, arts, physical education, career guidance, etc. are still sparse. Another reason cited by schools is the lack of conditions for organization. This has made the goal of comprehensive development for students as guided by the Ministry of Education and Training not reach expectations.

Appreciating the significance of the policy, Principal of Nam Phuong Tien B Secondary School (Xuan Mai Commune) Pham Thi Thu Ha still has concerns. The facilities are good, parents agree and wish, but until now, after more than a week of starting the new school year, the school has not been able to implement teaching 2 sessions/day.

“Parents are looking forward to it because if implemented, their children will not have to go home at noon, and they can study at school in the afternoon instead of having to go to a learning center which costs a lot of money. However, the lack of human resources and funding makes it very difficult for us to implement teaching 2 sessions/day. We are continuing to study the Ministry's guidelines so that in the future we can implement it in a socialized way,” said teacher Pham Thi Thu Ha.

Some parents believe that, in order to effectively organize 2 sessions/day, schools need to build a reasonable timetable between the main content and skills and experience activities. In particular, it is necessary to strengthen supervision to avoid the situation where the 2nd session is transformed into extra teaching - extra learning with fees.

According to some secondary school principals in Hanoi, the Ministry of Education and Training's encouragement to increase the teaching time of life skills and arts subjects is reasonable, but there needs to be a roadmap for training, recruiting or inviting experts to participate in teaching support. However, human resources are the biggest concern when currently, the number of teachers lacking the most is Music, Fine Arts, and life skills - the contents covered in the second lesson. In addition, the allowance regime when being assigned to teach the second lesson is also an issue of concern for many teachers.

Ms. Nguyen Mai Ninh, a parent of a student at Phuong Canh Secondary School (Xuan Phuong Ward) said that while waiting for a general policy from the Ministry of Education and Training, the school and parents need to work together to solve the financial problem for the second session, and should not just rely on the budget.

“Socialization is creating conditions for schools to connect with non-industry units such as businesses, research institutes, cultural and sports facilities, etc. so that students can have more practical experiences, not just financial contributions. Parents are willing to accompany and be a bridge between the school and society, as long as all activities are transparent, on target and bring practical benefits to students,” Ms. Nguyen Mai Ninh shared.

Regarding this content, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son affirmed that the funding for the second session is mainly guaranteed from the state budget according to the Prime Minister's direction; socialized sources are implemented according to current regulations. In the coming time, the Ministry will coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and localities to develop specific mechanisms for effective implementation.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/giao-duc/day-2-buoingay-van-con-thach-thuc-20250912161002958.htm