Confused about teaching 2 sessions/day: Ministry of Education and Training will develop a policy to mobilize funds

TPO - Parents "complain" that the regular school schedule ends too early, making it difficult to arrange time to pick up their children while club learning costs more. Before the new school year 2025-2026, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that the Ministry of Education and Training will coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and localities to develop specific mechanisms and policies on mobilizing funds for implementing 2-session teaching/day.

Báo Tiền Phong•12/09/2025

A parent whose child studies at Tran Phu Primary School, Ha Dong Ward ( Hanoi ) said that according to the current student schedule, the children study 4 periods in the morning and 3 periods in the afternoon, including STEM, life skills, English - Math, and martial arts classes.

It is worth mentioning that on some days, STEM, life skills, English - Math lessons are scheduled before History and Geography, Technology, and experiential activities. After finishing 3 lessons according to the program, the school has an extra care period to wait for parents to pick up their children.

According to the school year education plan published on the website of Tran Phu Primary School, in addition to the main curriculum, the school coordinates with many units to teach introductory English to students in grades 1 and 2 (2 periods/week) and supplementary English to students in grades 3, 4, and 5 (1 period/week); teach English - Math; STEM programs to students in grades 1-5; teach martial arts and chess to students in grades 1 and 2...

The Ministry of Education and Training stipulates that each day should not have more than 7 periods of study. Schools need to have space for students to play and participate in sports after stressful hours of study.

A private elementary school in Hanoi has been teaching two sessions a day for many years now and the main classes end at 3:45 p.m., but if students do not participate in the club, they have to sit in the waiting room to be picked up by their parents and are not allowed to go to the playground.

“Learning at a private school club is expensive, one session per subject per week, but the fee is from 3-4.5 million VND/semester. Letting your child study 2 subjects is also nearly ten million VND, while having to put it in a class to pay late is also very pitiful for parents because they cannot play and run around in the school yard but have to line up and sit in one place in a small space,” a parent confided.

Many parents share the same opinion that, in addition to the regular curriculum, after-school club models are all linked to outside organizations and charge fees, so they are in a difficult position. It is difficult to arrange for children to leave school before their parents get off work, but joining a club requires an additional monthly fee.

At the secondary school level, Giang Vo Secondary School (Hanoi), this school year only teaches 2 sessions/day for students in grades 6 and 7; grades 8 and 9 still study 1 session/day. From 4 pm, after school, students rush to the corners of the school yard to play shuttlecock and badminton. Although the school was newly built, looking up at a corner of the roof in the yard, you can see the students' shuttlecock stuck, white. The school's board of directors said that after a while, they had to ask someone to put up a ladder to remove the shuttlecock so that students could play and practice sports after stressful hours of studying.

Similarly, at Cau Giay Secondary School, after school hours, students who do not participate in the club can play shuttlecock or soccer in the school yard, or read books in the open library.

Besides schools that have taught 2 sessions/day, have living space, and have clubs for students to play, Hanoi currently has many schools that do not ensure the conditions for teaching 2 sessions/day, the curriculum is concentrated in 1 session, causing pressure and overload for students and teachers.

Must survey parents' needs

According to Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son, implementing Directive No. 17/2025 of the Prime Minister on teaching 2 sessions/day, the Ministry of Education and Training has directed schools to develop education plans clearly showing plans to mobilize and use resources for implementation in qualified places.

The plan must specify the content, duration, and target students, and assign teachers appropriately and in accordance with regulations; focus on differentiating subjects, nurturing excellent students, reviewing for final year students, and supporting students who have not met the requirements according to Circular 29.

At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Training emphasized the need to innovate management work, strengthen inspection and supervision of the implementation of the General Education Program as well as the management of extra teaching and learning, and ensure strict implementation of policies and laws.

The organization of the second session, including additional teaching for 3 subjects as prescribed, was carried out in accordance with Directive 17. The funding for the second session was mainly guaranteed from the state budget under the direction of the Prime Minister. Socialized sources were implemented in accordance with current regulations.

"In the coming time, the Ministry of Education and Training will coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and localities to develop specific mechanisms and policies on mobilizing funds for implementing two-session teaching per day," said Minister Son.

Also according to the Ministry of Education and Training, before the new school year, general education institutions are responsible for surveying the learning needs of students in the second session in order to have a plan to organize educational content to meet the learning needs of students while being suitable to the conditions of the school.

The teaching plan must be publicized in terms of content and timetable for 2 sessions/day on the school's information page; communication must be organized so that students and parents understand, agree and fulfill their responsibility to explain to management agencies and social forces when requested.