Many schools in Hanoi find it difficult to add more classes so that students can return home at "good times".

(Dan Tri) - Organizing a timetable so that students can finish school at the "good time" of 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. requires high consensus from parents, according to the leader of an elementary school in Hanoi.

In the 2025-2026 school year, schools from primary to high school will study 2 sessions/day according to regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training .

Students of Xa Dan Secondary School on the opening day (Photo: Nguyen Ha Nam ).

In terms of duration, primary school students study at least 9 sessions/week, no more than 7 periods a day, 35 minutes a period. Middle school and high school students study at least 5 days/week and maximum 11 sessions/week, no more than 7 periods a day, 45 minutes a period.

“Not having more than 7 periods per day is one of the important reasons why schools let students finish school earlier than last year, usually at 3:00-3:30 p.m.,” said the leader of a primary school in Hanoi .

According to this person, to extend the study time to 4-5pm, the school must schedule additional STEM, sports, arts, life skills classes, etc. However, studying these subjects simultaneously in all grades after 3-3:30pm is not easy.

“First, these subjects are not compulsory educational activities, parents voluntarily register their children. Thus, there will be many cases where students do not register, so how to manage students who do not register, and what are the costs for this management work, that is the problem that needs to be solved.

It is necessary to explain that teachers do not work according to office hours but according to the teaching quota set by the Ministry of Education and Training. Schools cannot force teachers to teach beyond the quota without consensus.

Second, to schedule skills and STEM subjects at the end of the session simultaneously in all grades requires large teacher resources.

Primary school students in Hanoi in a performance (Photo: PH).

For these subjects, schools must cooperate with outside centers. Parents need to have a high level of consensus to implement them due to the cost involved. Therefore, many schools are temporarily unable to organize joint subjects.

Third, the Ministry of Education and Training’s regulations on extra classes do not allow extra classes at the primary level. Therefore, from the second semester of the 2024-2025 school year, schools have completely stopped advanced classes, enrichment classes for excellent students as well as extra review classes for general students,” the primary school leader analyzed.

Teachers' working hours according to regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training

The working time of general education teachers is implemented according to Circular 05 of the Ministry of Education and Training, which clearly states: "The working time of teachers is implemented according to the school year and is converted into teaching hours, including the number of teaching hours in a school year and the average number of teaching hours in a week according to the teaching hour norm".

Specifically, the average teaching hours per week for primary school teachers is 23, for secondary school teachers is 19 and for high school teachers is 17. Thus, if the school implements 5 sessions/week, primary school teachers will teach 4.6 hours/day, secondary school teachers will teach 3.8 hours/day, and high school teachers will teach 3.4 hours/day.

In addition, the Ministry stipulates a reduction in teaching hours for teachers who concurrently hold other positions such as homeroom teacher, head of professional group, Party and Youth Union work, educational affairs, student counseling, etc.

Ms. Nguyen Thu Phuong, a teacher at a primary school in Ba Dinh ward, shared: “In order for students to finish school at the “good time” of 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., the school must arrange an extra free class period. Homeroom teachers must teach an extra class period compared to the norm.”

According to Ms. Phuong, her school does not have a fixed timetable for the entire semester, and is currently using a weekly timetable. The school has asked for parents' opinions and received high consensus to organize joint classes on STEM, foreign languages, and life skills.

“If there weren't these classes, students would have to leave at 3 p.m.,” said Ms. Phuong.

According to a survey by Dan Tri reporters, many secondary schools in Hanoi will implement 2 sessions/day from the 2025-2026 school year without a stable schedule.

According to the regulations on two-session learning, schools must organize formal learning in the first session and organize activities to consolidate and comprehensively develop morality, intelligence, physical fitness and aesthetics in the second session.

These activities are described as including: education on culture, arts, STEM, reading culture, school culture, career counseling, volunteer activities, life skills, digital skills, foreign languages, sports, etc.

However, many schools are currently adding core subjects to the second session because they do not have enough resources to organize skills classes.

A primary school timetable in Hanoi lets students leave school at 4:10 p.m. (Photo: PHCC).

In addition, some schools had organized STEM, foreign language, math and English courses in a joint form in the previous school year but could not implement them this school year due to lack of guidance from the ward People's Committee - the unit directly managing primary and secondary schools after the arrangement and operation of two-level local government.

Recently, the issue of students having to leave school at 3 p.m. in Ho Chi Minh City has caused reactions from parents and the public.

Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, requested that schools immediately stop this practice and said that he would guide the class start times for all levels to ensure consistency. It is expected that the morning school start time will be from 7am to 8am at the latest, depending on the grade level. The morning school end time will be from 10:30am onwards, and the afternoon school will not end before 4:30pm.

These shortcomings partly stem from a misunderstanding of the regulations on teaching 2 sessions/day.

Explaining this content clearly, Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the guidance of the Ministry of Education and Training is applied to the official curriculum.

“Schools can arrange different content in some sessions, meaning they can teach up to eight periods per day,” he explained.

(*) Teacher's name has been changed

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/nhieu-truong-o-ha-noi-kho-xep-them-tiet-hoc-de-hoc-sinh-duoc-ve-gio-dep-20250911221151985.htm