Parents of students upset about studying on Saturday, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training urgently directs

- Ảnh 1. — Secondary school students in Ho Chi Minh City on the opening day

Parents upset about Saturday school

Right in the first days of the 2025-2026 school year, some parents of middle school students were "shocked, tired, and frustrated" when they reported that their children had to go to school on Saturdays instead of only going to school on Friday afternoons as before.

Parents of students at Hoa Lu Secondary School (Tang Nhon Phu Ward, Ho Chi Minh City) provided the press with the timetable of their 7th grader at this school. The parents were upset and said that their child studied all day at school from Monday to Friday. Last school year, the 2 weekends were spent at home to participate in sports activities, play, learn English... But in 7th grade, according to the timetable, from Monday to Friday, the child will study all day with 7 periods/day and 4 more periods on Saturday morning. This affects the English study schedule of students at the center, which has been stable for many years now, and other activities.

Similarly, a parent of a student at Lu Gia Secondary School ( Phu Tho Ward) said that in previous years her child had 8 classes per day, from Monday to Friday. But in the parent meeting last weekend, the principal announced that there would be an additional class on Saturday morning.

Or a parent whose child is in grade 6 at Huynh Khuong Ninh Secondary School (Tan Dinh Ward) is also worried because his child's schedule includes 5 classes on Saturday mornings. This parent said that up to now, his child's school schedule was only from Monday to Friday. This school year, studying on Saturday is a huge change, affecting the talent training and personal capacity development that the family has oriented.

What parents are upset about is that studying according to the Saturday schedule at school with the main curriculum puts pressure on students. Meanwhile, the weekday classes have lessons on STEM ( science , technology, engineering, mathematics), life skills... For example, like the timetable of Hoa Lu Secondary School, Saturday has 4 periods of the 2018 General Education Program, including 2 English periods, 1 math period, and 1 literature period. However, in this same timetable, Tuesday has 2 "English Enhancement-ILA" periods and Thursday has a "STEM-Life Skills" period.

Explaining to parents about the arrangement of Saturday school schedules, many principals said that the number of classes and the volume of the secondary school curriculum would not change, but the timetable would have to be adjusted according to the new regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training on teaching 2 sessions/day, a minimum study schedule of 5 days/week, a maximum of 11 sessions/week, and no more than 7 periods per day.

However, many parents are upset and suggest that STEM, life skills or English classes with native teachers are supplementary programs and must be paid for separately. Therefore, it is recommended that schools reduce these classes or arrange them on weekends so that students who participate can go to school while other students have time to carry out their own plans.

Regarding the arrangement of the Saturday school timetable, Mr. Cao Duc Khoa, Principal of Nguyen Du Secondary School (Ben Thanh Ward), said that according to the Ministry's curriculum framework, grades 6 and 7 have 29 periods/week, and grades 8 and 9 have 29.5 periods/week. STEM subjects, life skills, international informatics, digital citizenship, native English... are generally called the school's curriculum, which is linked with the outside. If we only choose to teach these contents for about 5-6 periods per week, there is absolutely no need to spread them out to Saturday mornings.

- Ảnh 2. — Students' formal educational activities

Urgent instructions from the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday teaching

Regarding the concerns of parents about students having to study on Saturdays, at the conference on school curriculum development organized by the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City this morning, September 10, Ms. Lam Hong Lam Thuy, Head of the General Education Department, acknowledged that there are currently many comments and messages from parents about unreasonable timetables, especially at the junior high and high school levels. Therefore, we recommend that schools review and arrange flexibly, ensuring that they do not cause public concern, especially when the new school year has just begun.

According to Ms. Thuy, even at the elementary to middle school levels, not all schools have the conditions to organize 2 sessions/day. If possible, schools should limit classes on Saturdays. Some schools have flexibly turned Saturdays into self-study or online learning sessions, which is a direction worth considering.

Ms. Lam Thuy noted that Ho Chi Minh City issued a list of educational activities and support services that are allowed to be collected from socialized sources. For example, the foreign language learning content includes 6 sub-categories. However, that does not mean that the school organizes all 6 contents. The selection must be appropriate and not put pressure on students and parents. Some schools "embrace" all the collected content, forcing students to study with foreign teachers, take extra math classes, learn software... causing frustration. It is recommended that schools consider and choose a maximum of 2 additional contents in the foreign language learning section (in addition to the main curriculum)".

- Ảnh 3. — The timetable for 7th grade students at a secondary school in Ho Chi Minh City places some subjects in the supplementary program on weekdays, not Saturdays.

In the near future, according to Ms. Thuy, the Department of Education and Training will advise on issuing a document guiding the school day schedule to ensure stability in organizing educational activities for the 2025-2026 school year.

At the conference, Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, emphasized the need to ensure stability in students going to school. Specifically, what are the morning, noon and afternoon school hours so that parents can pick up and drop off their children in the most convenient and reasonable way.

Principals need to review last year's organization and consider carefully when making changes this year to avoid sudden changes that cause reactions from parents.

The Department of Education and Training informed that the General Education Department had discussed with the leaders of the General Education Department of the Ministry and agreed that 7 periods/day are only for implementing the official curriculum. Therefore, schools are proactive and flexible, but must ensure that 7 periods/day are for the 2018 General Education Program. After these 7 periods, the 8th and 9th periods can be used for the school's curriculum. Organizing 2 sessions/day also needs to pay attention to the active participation of students. Some schools can arrange to train excellent students or tutor on other days of the week, instead of Saturday.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/phu-parents-students-buc-xuc-vi-hoc-thu-bay-so-gd-dt-tphcm-chi-dao-khan-185250910144943127.htm