Do not prohibit extra teaching, but must limit negativity

Teachers from Le Hong Phong High School (Tay Hoa District) participated in giving opinions at a social criticism conference on extra teaching and learning activities. Photo: THUY HANG

Need to be more specific and strict

The Draft Decision of the Provincial People's Committee promulgating regulations on extra teaching and learning (ET) was drafted by the Department of Education and Training on the basis of Circular 29 regulating ET of the Ministry of Education and Training, effective from February 14, 2025. The draft clearly states the scope of application for tutors and learners; organizations and individuals organizing ET with the following contents: Responsibilities of People's Committees at all levels, education management agencies and relevant agencies in implementing regulations on ET; management and use of organization funds; inspection, examination and handling of violations in ET activities in the province.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Phat, a Math teacher at Le Hong Phong High School (Tay Hoa District) shared: Circular 29 on DTHT has introduced many new regulations to eliminate negative aspects in DTHT. With the current regulations, if teachers want to teach extra classes outside of school and collect money from students, they must go through a third party and participate in extra classes at a registered tutoring facility in accordance with the law. This novelty may initially cause difficulties for tutoring teachers, because in the past, teachers often opened extra classes according to the needs of students and parents. Now, there are organizations or individuals who open extra classes and teachers register to teach, so of course they are not as proactive as before. But in the long run, this will become a professional activity and having an organized and managed DTHT will not only help teachers feel comfortable in teaching extra classes but also help the State to better manage DTHT work inside and outside of schools. “For extra-curricular tutoring activities, there must be legal transparency, information disclosure, and strict prohibition on teachers charging their regular students for extra-curricular tutoring,” said Mr. Phat.

Mr. Nguyen Tri Phuong, a parent in Hoa Dong commune (Tay Hoa district) with 2 children studying in junior high school and high school, expressed: Most students have the need to take extra classes to improve their knowledge. If extra classes are banned in schools, students will take extra classes outside of school. What I and many other parents are concerned about right now is the tuition fee for organizing extra classes outside of school. According to the draft regulation, "the fee for extra classes outside of school is agreed upon between parents, students and tutoring facilities", but in reality, parents and students do not have the opportunity to "negotiate" with tutors or tutoring facilities. Because tutors or tutoring facilities decide to set the price, and if parents accept, they let their children attend, if they do not accept, they do not. “In my opinion, the draft needs to add methods of agreement and forms of publicizing tuition fees for extra-curricular learning to meet the needs and desires of parents to ensure the feasibility and effectiveness of the draft,” Mr. Phuong suggested.

Many parents and students in Tuy Hoa City believe that the draft decision of the Provincial People's Committee on DTHT needs to supplement regulations on class size, DTHT time, and physical conditions of extra-curricular classes to ensure feasibility and suitability with the reality in the province, avoiding affecting the health of students. On the other hand, the draft should also have specific regulations on criteria, methods of determining and evaluating the capacity and qualities of extra-curricular teachers and extra-curricular organizations to help state management agencies, parents and students have a basis for selecting and evaluating these organizations and individuals.

Tighten discipline and professional ethics

Circular 29 of the Ministry of Education and Training does not prohibit extra teaching, but only prohibits negative and illegal extra teaching, helping to better manage. According to the author's research,educational institutions have implemented the new regulations on extra teaching in schools quite well. However, for extra teaching outside of schools, although Circular 29 stipulates that extra teaching teachers outside of schools are not allowed to teach regular students for money; at the same time, teachers must report to the principal about extra teaching activities outside of schools in terms of subjects, locations, forms, and time of extra teaching...; but in reality, in recent times, some public school teachers have been trying to "circumvent" Circular 29 by signing teaching contracts with centers to teach their students at the centers. The above-mentioned problems arising from extra-curricular tutoring have caused many delegates attending the conference to raise questions about the management responsibilities of schools, state management agencies, and solutions to thoroughly prevent the problem of extra-curricular tutoring for regular students.

DTHT is an issue of concern to many people. Therefore, the Draft Decision of the Provincial People's Committee promulgating regulations on DTHT in the province is very important in implementing Circular 29 of the Ministry of Education and Training. Based on the opinions at the conference, the drafting agency needs to comply with the provisions of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents, review the legal bases, issues related to the legitimate teaching and learning rights of teachers and students; especially must be consistent with reality, in harmony with legal provisions on finance, budget and other regulations, creating social consensus.

Comrade Tran Huu The, Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Chairman of the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee

Ms. Vo Thi Minh Duyen, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training, said: Immediately after Circular 29 took effect, the Department of Education and Training issued many documents directing educational institutions and teachers of schools to strictly implement the provisions of this Circular. The industry also inspected a number of tutoring facilities to promptly correct and remind them.

From the school's perspective, school leaders frankly admit: Principals only manage their teachers' participation in extra-curricular tutoring outside the school based on teachers' reports. In particular, principals require teachers to commit to not tutoring their regular students, but in reality, schools do not have enough capacity and resources to control whether their teachers tutor regular students and collect money outside the school or not.

The teaching profession is considered a noble profession by society, not only teaching knowledge but also being an exemplary role model in strictly following the discipline and laws of the State, propagating the law... so it is difficult to accept that teachers teach extra classes illegally. Therefore, education managers, teachers, students and parents of students have high expectations that the DTHT regulations of the Provincial People's Committee, once promulgated, will help this activity become more organized, tighten discipline and professional ethics of teachers, and at the same time reduce unnecessary pressure and costs for parents.

Source: https://baophuyen.vn/xa-hoi/202505/khong-cam-day-them-nhung-phai-han-che-tieu-cuc-3a25112/