Changes that make parents in Ho Chi Minh City 'happy': Stop studying on Saturdays, no dismissal before 4:30 pm

At the beginning of the new school year, many problems arose in Ho Chi Minh City: Students had to study on Saturday mornings, and many schools dismissed at 3:45 p.m. The Department of Education and Training quickly proposed adjustments, and clearly defined the fees parents had to pay when studying 2 sessions a day.

No school before 4:30 pm

Sharing with VietNamNet reporter, Mr. Quang - a parent of Nguyen Van To Secondary School (old District 10) said that according to the new school year 2025-2026 schedule, his child finishes school very early in the afternoon. "My husband and I work until 5:00 p.m. but at 3:45 p.m., our child finishes school, so it is very inconvenient to pick up and drop off."

Similarly, Ms. Chu Lan (formerly Thu Duc City) whose child is in 8th grade shared: “Last year, my child finished school at 4:45 p.m., this year he came home at 4:00 p.m. Many times I had to ask for leave early to pick up my child on time.”

In response to parents' complaints about early school dismissal causing difficulties in pick-up and drop-off, Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said he is seeking the opinion of the department director to issue general regulations on school admission and dismissal times for students of all levels from the 2025-2026 school year.

According to the draft, morning classes will start no earlier than 7am and no later than 8am. Morning classes will end no earlier than 10:30am, and afternoon classes will end no later than 4:30pm.

Flexible schedule, no formal classes on Saturday

In recent days, parents of many schools in Ho Chi Minh City have complained that schools are teaching on Saturday mornings. Especially schools belonging to the advanced international integration model. Notably, some main subjects in the 2018 General Education Program are taught on Saturday mornings, while subjects developed by the school are arranged from Monday to Friday, causing anger among parents.

Students and teachers in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Nguyen Hue

Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the regulation of teaching 2 sessions/day with 7 periods is to ensure the implementation of the 2018 General Education Program. However, schools can flexibly arrange their timetables, with some days having more than 7 periods.

The current difficulty for many secondary and high schools in implementing the new regulation is that they have not yet reached an agreement with parents on organizing classes on Saturday mornings. The reason comes from the incorrect understanding of the phrase “no more than 7 periods/day”, which has forced some schools to arrange additional classes on Saturday mornings.

After receiving the information, the leaders of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City discussed with the Department of General Education (Ministry of Education and Training) and agreed on the understanding: the regulation of 7 periods/day only applies to the 2018 General Education Program. For the second session activities, the school can proactively arrange more than this number of periods. With that implementation, students will not have to study the 2018 General Education Program on Saturday mornings; only when they have the need and voluntarily register, will they participate in extra classes during this time.

Clearly define the items that must be paid and not paid when studying 2 sessions/day

Teaching 2 sessions/day is implemented by schools in Ho Chi Minh City, especially in region I (old Ho Chi Minh City).

According to regulations of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, educational activities in the second session are funded from the budget, parents do not have to pay, including:

Review for 10th grade entrance exam, high school graduation exam (no more than 6 periods/week, from the beginning of the school year).

Consolidate knowledge, review, and tutor students whose final semester results are not satisfactory (no more than 2 periods/subject/week; for first graders, from semester 2, for other grades, from the beginning of the school year).

Training excellent students by subject (no more than 2 periods/subject/week, from the beginning of the year until taking the exam).

The activities for which parents must contribute funds for session 2 include: Career guidance, experience, STEM/STEAM, life skills, digital skills, AI, foreign languages, sports , culture - arts, career counseling... as well as activities serving the implementation of projects and plans of the city and the education sector.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/thay-doi-khien-phu-huynh-tphcm-nuc-long-dung-hoc-thu-7-khong-ve-truoc-16h30-2441414.html