School hours are 'awkward', husband and wife quarrel over picking up and dropping off their children

Each school has a different end time, each grade level is different, and the child's end time is still during the parents' working hours. Therefore, many families have a hard time taking their children to and from school, which sometimes leads to conflicts.

School hours are awkward, I have 2 kids at home, I have to take them all day to school, and can't do anything.

That is the reality of Ms. Nguyen Kim Thoa (the character requested to change her name), residing in a difficult commune in Dong Nai province (formerly Binh Phuoc province) where 80-90% of the people depend on rubber trees and work as rubber tappers. Ms. Kim Thoa told Thanh Nien Newspaper reporter her daily schedule - the person who plays the main role in the house, picking up and dropping off children, cooking, doing housework - besides still working freelance, to help her husband take care of the economy to raise the children to study.

"My family has 2 children. The older one is in middle school, the older one is in high school. Two days a week, the younger one only attends school in the morning, finishing school at 11:20. The other 5 days, the children attend school twice a day. In the morning, the children finish school at 10:30, I pick them up, come home to cook. At 11:30, I go back to school to pick up the older child. At 12:15, I take the children back to school to study until the afternoon. At 3:55, afternoon school finishes, and the pick-up and drop-off cycle continues."

Parents pick up and drop off their children after school at an elementary school in Ho Chi Minh City.

ILLUSTRATION: NHAT THINH

"The problem is, whether the child finishes school at 10:30 or 15:55, it is still the time when the parents are still working, pouring latex. I am a freelancer, but many of my colleagues have to ask permission from their workplace to leave the latex they are pouring and go pick up their children. It is better if they meet someone who is sympathetic, but if they meet an unsympathetic boss, no one dares to leave work in the middle of the day to pick up their children," the mother said.

In addition, Ms. Thoa also said that families with children in both primary and secondary school have more difficulties, and the pick-up and drop-off time is more stressful. Because primary school has 2 sessions/day from Monday to Friday. Class starts at 7am, ends at 10:30am in the morning, starts at 2pm in the afternoon, and ends at 4pm.

"To pick up my child at 10:30, I have to leave at 10:00. Then in the afternoon, at 3:30, I sometimes have to rush to school, waiting for my child to finish school. So all day I have to worry about the time to pick up my child, my work is neglected, it cannot be effective. Many people cannot ask to leave early with the excuse of picking up their child, so even if their child finishes school at 10:30, 4:00 or 4:30, they still have to wait for their parents. I have witnessed many students having to wait for their parents for hours, waiting for their parents to finish work before coming to school to pick them up. The worst is at noon, when they come home late, their children wait for their parents to finish cooking, they eat in a hurry, and their parents take them back to school for the afternoon," Ms. Thoa added.

Parents rush to pick up their children. Children who study 2 sessions/day and do not eat at school have to be picked up and dropped off 4 times a day. Children with 2 children have to be picked up and dropped off 8 times a day, not to mention traveling to extra classes.

ILLUSTRATION: NHAT THINH

"This school schedule is very inconvenient. I hope my children finish school at 4:30 or 5:00 p.m. to match their parents' work hours, but if it continues like this, the parents will be in a spin. If there are two or more children in the family, one of the parents must do something free outside, to be flexible with picking up and dropping off the children. If both parents are workers, working in a company, the boss will not accept any parent "asking to come late and come home early to pick up the children". This way, the parents will not be able to take care of their children," the mother of two children confided.

Many people will question why both children are grown, why don't they walk or ride their bikes to school, Ms. Thoa said that only parents can understand the feelings. Traffic is now much more complicated than before, if they let their children go and come back by themselves, sometimes up to 16 km a day, parents cannot rest assured.

Husband and wife quarrel over child pick-up and drop-off

Ms. Thoa also told the story of her brother and sister-in-law who are living in Hong Quang commune, Ninh Binh province (Nam Truc district, former Nam Dinh province). The problem of taking children to school at odd hours has been causing difficulties for many families.

"My brother and I have 3 children, all 3 levels of school, 3rd grade, 8th grade and 11th grade, each child has a different school leaving time in the morning and afternoon, which usually does not fall within the working hours. My sister-in-law works at a garment factory in the commune, from morning to 5pm. My brother drives a taxi, usually taking "jobs" during the children's school hours, waiting for the right time to pick up the children. But there are unexpected days, for example, at 10:30am when the children finish school but are still on the way to pick up passengers, he calls his sister to ask her to stop by the school to pick them up. My sister-in-law has to go through the factory fence, the car is parked outside. Every day when she is caught by security, it is okay to let her go; if it is light, she is reprimanded, if it is heavy, her competition points, salary, and bonus are deducted. So when she comes home, the couple quarrels, things like this happen many times, like eating meals," the female parent expressed.

Not every family has grandparents to help pick up and drop off their children. Many families accept one person working in a company and one person working freelance to pick up and drop off their children from school.

ILLUSTRATION: NHAT THINH

One must accept working outside to take care of the children.

Mr. TVH, residing in Binh Tuyen commune, Phu Tho province (formerly Vinh Phuc province), is a freelance driver and has 3 children in all 3 levels of education: preschool, primary school and secondary school. His wife works at an auto parts company, leaves the house at 7:30 am and comes home at 8:00 pm. Her working hours are very strict and she cannot leave in the middle of the day. So he is almost the only one responsible for taking the children to and from school and cooking at home.

This year, his first child, who is in 6th grade, can ride his bike to school by himself, making Mr. H. feel less tired. Last year, he was busy all day, worrying about work and taking his child to school.

"In the morning, I feed the children breakfast, take one to kindergarten, the other two to elementary school. At noon, I pick up the two elementary school children, prepare meals for them, in the early afternoon, take the two children to school, and at 4 pm, I return to school to pick up the three children from school. The children in kindergarten also finish school very early, and have to pick them up at 4 pm. One time, because I was so busy, I arrived at school at 4:15 pm and saw the teachers turning off all the lights, leaving only my children. I was so busy that at noon, I could only make one dish: fried meat with boiled cabbage. Now, my eldest daughter says, "Dad, I'm sick of fried meat with boiled cabbage." It's so pitiful and sad for her," said TVH.

Mr. H. said: "It would be great if all primary schools and kindergartens let their children finish school at 4:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Because not every family has grandparents to help. Like in my family, I have to do freelance work to take care of my children. If we both worked as workers, we definitely wouldn't be able to send our children to school."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/gio-tan-hoc-treo-ngoe-vo-chong-luc-duc-vi-dua-don-con-185250913153858617.htm