Difficulty teaching 2 sessions/day

Regarding the policy of teaching 2 sessions/day, many people are concerned that education costs will increase and not every family will be able to register to participate.

Hard to miss school on Saturday

The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has issued Official Letter No. 4567/BGDĐT-GDPT on guidelines for organizing 2 sessions/day for general education. It stipulates that the maximum number of study periods is only 7 periods/day (current regulation is 8 periods/day) for all 3 levels (primary, secondary, high school). This helps students reduce the amount of study time in each session, avoiding overload.

A lesson of students at Ta Ngai Cho Secondary School, Lao Cai province. Photo: NTCC

However, the concern of some schools up to this point is that for secondary schools, they must ensure 29 periods/week according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training. So if the school implements Saturday off, students will have to study a maximum of 6 periods in session 1. If 5 periods/session 1 are implemented, will the remaining 4 periods be allowed to be transferred to session 2? The guidance document does not strictly stipulate that session 1 (teaching compulsory education programs) must be in the morning and session 2 (activities, subjects according to needs) in the afternoon, but can be flexibly arranged according to conditions and needs.

The document of the Ministry of Education and Training instructs schools to survey the learning needs of students studying the second session before the new school year begins. However, in reality, not all schools do this. The principal of a school in Cua Nam ward (Hanoi) said that in the 2025-2026 school year, the school will implement 2 sessions/day for grade 6 while grades 7, 8, and 9 will still implement 1 session/day. This is announced as soon as parents submit their applications directly to the school and no survey is conducted. Parents of older grades also suggested implementing 2 sessions/day, but because the school's facilities are only designed to teach 2 sessions/day for 1 grade, the school decides to choose grade 6 every year.

Talking to many parents whose children are in junior high school, most of the opinions agree that students study 2 sessions/day, especially in grades 6-7 because at this time, children have just entered junior high school and do not have a clear direction for their studies after junior high school, so parents support the study of subjects with more hours for comprehensive development such as sports, music, fine arts, etc. However, in grades 8 and 9, when students have gradually formed and decided on choosing a high school and choosing a direction after junior high school, they need to be more autonomous in their studies to focus on their own choices. For example, students who wish to take the entrance exam to a specialized high school will need to study more and improve their specialized knowledge compared to students who only take the entrance exam to a public high school and only review the 2 compulsory subjects of Math and Literature and a third optional subject.

Increase class time or differentiate teaching?

Although they agree, what parents want is for the school to soon announce the second session curriculum and survey and arrange for students to choose their own subjects for the second session or for the school to arrange them on the basis of suitability with the abilities and wishes of each student instead of requiring 100% of students to study the school curriculum as in previous school years. Specifically, the second session according to the instructions is prescribed with many rich activities such as: consolidating and reviewing knowledge, STEM/STEAM education, life skills education, career guidance, experience, culture, art, physical education...

The document also allows students to self-study with guidance and participate in clubs according to their interests, helping them to be more proactive in their learning and self-discovery.

Thus, the second session is teaching according to needs. Parents want to truly promote the advantages of teaching 2 sessions/day, the education sector needs to strengthen inspection, provide specific guidance, and train schools to implement effectively instead of following the old way that many middle schools and high schools have implemented in recent years according to the model of 1 session of the main curriculum and the afternoon continues to teach... like the first session with the same class and subject teachers as before instead of dividing the appropriate levels into classes, club model... This is essentially increasing the number of hours, not differentiating teaching as parents expect for the second session.

Regarding the cost of the second session, although tuition is exempted, many parents are concerned about the socialized lessons, how will schools implement them? Because the 2018 General Education Program stipulates that schools are allowed to proactively develop educational plans based on the educational program issued by the Ministry of Education and Training, the conditions of facilities, teachers, the school's development strategy and the needs of parents and students... So, what will be the level of contribution?

In addition, due to the lack of teachers or in many schools, teachers have taught more than the prescribed number of periods, so for the second session, how will we pay if teachers teach or if we invite artists and artisans to teach in the form of socialization, will it increase the financial burden on parents? Schools are also worried that without detailed instructions, will the paid extra teaching in schools be confused with activities actively built by the school?

daidoanket.vn

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/kho-khan-day-hoc-2-buoingay-post879712.html