Parents debate whether students should have one or four days off for New Year's Day.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - After a school in Ho Chi Minh City gave students a four-day consecutive New Year's holiday, a heated debate erupted in an education forum.

Students of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School, Ho Chi Minh City, at the spring festival (Photo: Hoa Sen).

Nguyen Van Troi Secondary School in Hanh Thong Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, has just announced to all parents and students the make-up class schedule to arrange the New Year's Day holiday in 2026.

The school principal's announcement stated that, according to the plan, the school will hold its New Year's Day holiday for students on Thursday, January 1, 2026, in accordance with regulations.

However, in accordance with the wishes and recommendations of parents, in order for students and their families to have a complete and meaningful holiday, the school will allow students to have an additional holiday on Friday, January 2nd, 2026, and make up for lost time with classes on Saturday, December 20th, 2025.

Therefore, students at this school will have a four-day New Year's holiday, from Thursday, January 1, 2026 to Sunday, January 4, 2026.

In a parent group on social media, one account questioned why, according to the Labor Law, the New Year's Day holiday is only one day, but the school gave students four days off and made them attend classes to make up for it?

Below the comments section, parents erupted in a debate about the regulations of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and the Department of Education and Training regarding the Tet holiday schedule for students.

One side argues that the school's flexible scheduling of extended holidays is appropriate, allowing students and teachers ample time to rest and spend time with their families. The school has the right to make this decision independently.

Another opinion opposes this, arguing that parents have to work according to the government's schedule and cannot arrange childcare during holidays. Families who want their children to have time off for leisure should do so as an individual, and should not let personal wishes cause the collective to deviate from the government's schedule.

According to Directive 251 dated December 10th from the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the New Year's Day holiday is one day for officials, civil servants, and employees of administrative agencies, public service organizations, political organizations, and socio-political organizations. The document does not mention any exceptions.

Therefore, schools, as public institutions, will also be subject to the regulation of taking one day off.

Previously, during the professional briefing on general education for the first semester of the 2025-2026 school year, held on the morning of December 9th, some school leaders in Ho Chi Minh City raised the question of whether students could have an additional day off on Friday (January 2nd) since New Year's Day (January 1st, 2026) falls on a Thursday.

A representative from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training stated at the time that they had given schools the autonomy to decide whether to give students an additional day off on January 2nd. This would give students a total of four days off, from Thursday (January 1st, 2026) to Sunday (January 4th, 2026).

However, later on the evening of December 9th, Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of the Office of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, stated that the New Year's Day holiday on January 1st, 2026, for the education sector follows the regulations of the Labor Law and other directives of the city, without exception compared to other sectors. This means that students will only have a holiday on January 1st, 2026.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/phu-huynh-tranh-cai-hoc-sinh-duoc-nghi-tet-duong-lich-1-ngay-hay-4-ngay-20251213141708124.htm