Tutoring and extra classes need specific regulations.

Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son recently presented explanations to the National Assembly regarding several issues raised during the discussion of the draft Law on Teachers.

Students attend after-school tutoring sessions at a tutoring center in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: NHU HUNG

Regarding teachers' tutoring, Minister Nguyen Kim Son clarified that the ministry's policy is not to prohibit tutoring in general, but to prohibit tutoring practices that violate the ethics of teachers and professional principles. This means prohibiting certain coercive behaviors by teachers in this matter.

Regulations regarding tutoring should definitively prohibit tutoring at the primary school level and include measures to restrict it at the secondary school level.

Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam (Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Educational Psychology)

Suffering because of not taking extra classes.

"Extra tutoring is a real need for both students and teachers. The Ministry of Education and Training's policy of not prohibiting teachers from giving extra lessons is reasonable. However, from a parent's perspective, I suggest that the government should issue specific regulations on extra tutoring."

"Teachers should not force students to attend extra classes with them. If this happens, the teacher should face the harshest penalties," proposed Mr. Ngo Hong Cu, a parent in Ho Chi Minh City.

Mr. Cu recounted that last year, his son, who was in 9th grade, went through a "prolonged crisis" because he wasn't taking extra classes with his regular math teacher.

"Most of my child's classmates take extra math lessons with this teacher. Only my child and one other friend take lessons elsewhere. My child is taking the entrance exam for a specialized high school, and I was introduced to a teacher at the high school, and my child has been studying with him since the summer of 8th grade."

I thought it was normal. But no. My child is constantly called to the board to answer questions, do exercises... Students inevitably make mistakes sometimes. And every time she makes a mistake, the teacher ridicules and mocks her, saying things like: "With homework like this, you want to get into a specialized school? You still make mistakes on such easy problems, and you want to aim high? Do you think you can even pass the entrance exam for a specialized school?"

Mr. Cu also said: "Students who take extra classes with her usually get very high scores on tests, while my child often gets lower scores than her classmates. Being ridiculed many times and getting low scores made her lose confidence, and she asked her parents to stop her from taking the entrance exam for the specialized 10th grade class."

"Ultimately, my child had to choose to attend extra classes at both places in the hope of finding peace. In cases like this, how should the teacher be punished? This needs to be included in the law for strict enforcement," Mr. Cu suggested.

"Legitimate rights"

Speaking to Tuổi Trẻ newspaper, many teachers said that giving extra lessons to earn a living is still better than having to sell goods online or work as a ride-hailing driver... Giving extra lessons is a legitimate right of teachers.

"What has angered the public are the negative aspects of tutoring. This includes reducing the amount of material taught in regular classes and reserving it for tutoring sessions. Students who don't attend tutoring sessions don't understand the lessons. Some teachers even 'coach' students beforehand in tutoring sessions so they can achieve high scores on tests. Students who don't attend tutoring sessions will get low grades."

"And there are many other ways, including putting pressure on students in every way, with the aim of forcing them to attend extra classes with them. This is a crucial issue that needs to be thoroughly addressed," said the principal of a junior high school in downtown Ho Chi Minh City.

According to the principal: "There needs to be specific regulations on sanctioning teachers who violate the rules. Based on those regulations, state management agencies, specifically the Department of Education and Training, will strengthen inspections and checks to eliminate negative practices in tutoring and supplementary classes."

"The management of extracurricular tutoring outside of school cannot be entrusted to the principal. We are already exhausted from managing things within the school; we don't have the time or energy to keep an eye on matters outside of school. If the education sector continues to entrust the management of teachers' extracurricular tutoring to principals in the future, the current situation of 'lax management' will continue to recur," the principal asserted.

Tutoring for elementary school students should be banned.

According to some educators, while it's impossible to ban tutoring altogether based on actual needs, there should be limits and conditions. In particular, the law should clearly prohibit tutoring for primary school students and preschool students preparing to enter first grade.

In reality, it is still very common for students preparing for first grade to attend preschool ahead of schedule, even though regulations stipulate that students who have completed the full 5-year-old preschool program are eligible to enter first grade. This mainly stems from the anxiety of parents.

However, as it became more widespread, schools and first-grade teachers implicitly accepted that "children must be able to read and write fluently" before entering first grade as a necessary condition. This put reverse pressure on students and parents, exacerbating the problem of extra tutoring and supplementary classes.

"Regulations on tutoring should definitively prohibit tutoring at the primary school level and include measures to restrict it at the secondary school level," expressed Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam, vice president of the Vietnam Association of Educational Psychology.

He argued that elementary school students, if they have the time and resources, should participate in activities that develop skills and physical fitness, rather than being moved from one class to another to continue practicing writing and math. Fundamentally, the current tutoring and extra classes in elementary schools are not based on real needs and are not truly for the benefit of the children.

Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam also believes that with the goal of education being to develop students' thinking and abilities instead of just cramming knowledge, the issue of extra tutoring and supplementary classes as it is currently happening needs to be rectified.

Because competence and critical thinking are developed through various activities, not just sitting in a classroom solving exercises and improving grades, reforming testing and examinations is also a strong solution to prevent the current unnecessary tutoring and extra classes.

"Teachers have a legitimate right to provide extra tutoring. However, it is necessary to clearly distinguish between these rights and have clear regulations so that the exercise of this right does not affect educational goals, the health, psychology, and the development of a child's abilities and qualities," expressed Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam.

Mass tutoring should not be offered within schools.

Students attend extra classes at a center in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: NH.HUNG

Mr. Dang Tu An, director of the Vietnam Education Innovation Support Fund and former head of the Primary Education Department of the Ministry of Education and Training, believes that in schools today, tutoring should only be maintained for students with below-standard knowledge levels to ensure minimum requirements are met. This tutoring may or may not be fee-based, but it should not be allowed on a large scale.

According to Mr. An, the recently published draft circular on managing extracurricular tutoring is more flexible and less restrictive than Circular 17 (currently in effect), which raises concerns for him. He argues that even with conditions attached, a school would still have two programs: a regular curriculum and extracurricular tutoring. One of these programs would collect fees from parents.

Legalizing extracurricular tutoring within schools could create unnecessary pressure on students. According to current regulations, students only need to meet the requirements of the 2018 General Education Program. If we legalize extracurricular tutoring with the aim of enhancing knowledge and skills, it means that schools and teachers have not fulfilled their responsibilities regarding the 2018 Program.

"Looking at it from another perspective, I see that under the old curriculum, teaching was mainly about equipping students with knowledge, so extra tutoring was also about reinforcing students' knowledge. With the 2018 curriculum, we have shifted to comprehensive teaching, developing students' competencies and qualities."

Extracurricular teaching and learning must also change direction, prioritizing experiential activities, improving physical fitness, arts, teaching life skills, teaching educational technology, and especially improving students' mental health.

Legalizing extracurricular tutoring could negatively impact the quality of the regular curriculum because teachers would have to divide their energy and dedication to tutoring, preventing them from fully concentrating on their regular teaching hours.

"Students, especially primary school students, face health risks when forced to attend multiple classes throughout the day," Mr. An added.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/day-them-hoc-them-can-quy-dinh-cu-the-20241122084122567.htm